Reflection
by foxyx
Summary: [KakaSaku] It is a time of war. It is a time of deceit. It is a time of love. It is a time for certain sacrifices to be made.
1. Restoration

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 1: Restoration**_

The dawn of a fresh new day breaks out again in the small village of Konoha. Tired eyes crack open expecting to be greeted with glistening rays of sunshine, but to much disappointment it just so happens to be a day of pattering downfall, blistering winds, and obnoxious flashes and crashes.

Two particular individuals find themselves waking to this background noise, in a tiny one-room apartment. The blonde one rises from the floor and lets out a great big yawn, the loudness almost equivalent to that of the raging weather. While he stretches his arms out like a giant 'Y', the pink-haired one merely shuffles slightly underneath the duvet on her comfy double-sized bed and then remains immobile.

The blonde chuckled to himself at the sight of this. "Come on, Sakura... you should know better than anyone that a little storm is no excuse to be lazy and miss work."

A sloppy groan escaped from underneath the covers, followed by some mumbling that Naruto couldn't quite make out due to the sheets drowning the sound. Instead, he decided to be himself and tease her a little bit "What's that, Sakura? You want me to jump on you? That's a great idea to get you up!" Rearing himself up to fulfill the deed, before even 5 seconds could elapse the duvet went flying off the bed, revealing an alarmed girl with a death glare in her eyes. This should have sent Naruto running, but on the contrary he rolled over and started laughing hysterically. Sakura dropped the glare and just stared confounded at him.

"What is so funny?!" She blurted, wondering what could possibly make him crack up so much all of a sudden.

"Ahahaha... Oohoohoo... Y-Your... ahaha... your hair... bwahahaha..."

The alarmed look made its appearance once again on Sakura's face as she jumped off the bed and sprinted over to her vanity mirror. Alas, Naruto's reaction turned out to be completely justifiable. Her hair did, indeed, look as if it were imitating a pink bird's nest. Quickly, she snatched her comb off of the vanity surface, and brushed a few strokes through the pink locks to at least tame it moderately. Placing the comb back down on the dresser after achieving satisfaction, she whipped back around to face the blonde boy who was still hunching over with laughter.

"Oh, give it a break. I guess that will teach me to never invite _you _over for another sleep-over." She threatened, the death glare resurfacing as she crossed her arms.

Slowly, Naruto's laughter died down and he rose back up to his feet, sending Sakura a hearty smile from across the room. "You know I'm just teasing. I think you look beautiful no matter how messy your hair is." And that, he meant.

As suggestive as his comment may have sounded, there were absolutely no hidden tendencies or implications behind it. Sakura _was _a beautiful girl, that fact remained solid. Naruto cared deeply for the girl, just as equally as she cared for him. But neither of their feelings could ever be taken to a level further than an unbreakable familial bond. There was a time in his life that Naruto did desire something more with his fellow companion, but those exact feelings were never mutual, and Naruto realized they never would be. Through her eyes, Naruto was more like a brother, and he eventually came to accept and love that kind of relationship with her. Never, for one second, does he regret it, just as he would never risk anything to jeopardize what they have.

Sakura loosened up and sent the same warming smile back at Naruto "I know, silly. Come, I'll make you some tea."

* * *

At times like these, Sakura was most grateful that her apartment had been furnished with a gas stove, over an electric one.

The power was out.

Sakura became aware of this fact the moment she went to open her freezer and noticed the ice melting in the little trays. Quickly, she poured some water into the kettle from the tap, then turned on the gas after laying the kettle on top of the burner. While the water in the kettle was slowly rising to a boil, Sakura hastily ran over to the closet near the entrance, where she pulled out a great big red generator. Hauling the large block back over into the kitchen corner, she placed it down near the fridge, and connected the two together. The machine emitted a roaring buzzing noise once she activated it, but it beat having spoiled food (and melted ice, most importantly).

By the time Sakura finished feeding life back into her refrigerator, the water in the kettle was just about to reach its boiling peak as the faint whistle ascended louder and louder by the millisecond. Sakura scampered the few steps over to the stove, and quickly removed the kettle from the burner, turning the gas knob to the 'off' state at the same time. She temporarily placed the kettle down on one of the unheated burners as she opened and reached into a cupboard to grab two mugs and two packets of cheap green tea that she just bought at the corner store. Usually she preferred to make her tea with the loose herbs and the specialized tea cup filter, but the place that sold her favorite tea herbs hadn't had them in stock for a long time.

So, she settled with cheap box tea packets.

Tearing both of the packets open like condoms, she dropped the bags respectively into each mug while the tags hung from their strings over the sides. Reaching back over to lift the kettle off of the stove, Sakura smoothly poured the hot water into each cup, leaving about one centimeter's space between the surface of the water and rim of the mug. The steam flowed elegantly from both cups, rising upwards through endless streams.

Sakura took hold of both mugs, and carefully transported them over to the other side of the room where there situated the single window stretching across that one entire wall, overlooking a part of the central village. It was hypothetically an excellent view, were the view itself replaced with an ocean or beautiful mountains rather than a grungy village, but Sakura didn't mind. She just loved that she was so centrally located. Besides, the window was accompanied with a sliding door in the middle of it that lead to a nice terrace where should would often sit out and relax quite enjoyably. That was more of a bonus in itself than she could ever ask for.

Sakura placed both mugs down on coasters on the short round coffee table sitting centrally about 3 feet away from the sliding doors. On either side of the coffee table were two comfy lounge chairs. One of them was already occupied by the blonde, so Sakura went ahead and sat herself down on the one opposite him.

"Thanks, Sakura." Naruto smiled as he lifted his mug from the coaster on his side of the little table, and savored a long sip of his tea.

Sakura mimicked his actions, and a long moment of silence elapsed as they both sat there enjoying their tea while at the same time _not _enjoying the rotten weather transpiring outside that very window.

"I like this. We should do this more often." Naruto suddenly admitted, breaking the silence.

Sakura was a bit surprised at his comment, considering the turn of events wasn't exactly for the better. But she supposed she couldn't deny that she, too, actually quite enjoyed it. It was his company alone that she really enjoyed. She didn't get to spend much quality time with the boy, after all. At least not like this. They would always be together on missions and during training exercises and what not, but none of those things were quite the same as having him come stay the night to simply converse and just appreciate one another's company.

"I agree. Just, hopefully we'll be a bit more blessed next time when it comes to Mother Nature." Sakura responded a tad bitterly as she took another sip of her tea.

Naruto laughed.

* * *

Naruto and Sakura decided they would wait for the storm to ease up a bit first, before they set off on their daily routine. In the meantime, as they waited, they figured it was a perfect chance for them to do a little house-cleaning as a productive means of passing the time. Sakura's apartment was small, so there wasn't a whole lot to be done, but it was enough for the storm to calm down to an accessible condition.

They had already taken their turns at showering and primping, so as soon as the storm had cleared up enough to their satisfaction, they were both ready to head out.

"So, Naruto, I forgot to ask what your plans are for today. That's if they even still apply, due to the storm..." Sakura started as both leaned against the narrow walls in her tiny doorway, donning their raincoats and boots.

"I've got a kick-ass mission! It's a pretty big deal, too. And not just because it's my fiftieth mission since I've been in ANBU corps... which, I don't know if you know, but in ANBU tradition when you've reached fifty missions... that's, like... an officially big deal. Like... 'should-treat-Naruto-to-ramen-when-he-gets-back' kinda big deal." His eyes shifted conspicuously around the room as he let out an innocent cough.

Sakura raised one eyebrow, lifting her head for a moment just to stare at Naruto in disbelief. "Oh, is that so? How do I know this isn't just one of your silly ploys just to try and make me buy you ramen?" She asked the blatant question.

"It's not! Go ask Sai!!!" He exclaimed, giving her the most serious look he could. He must have been desperate, because it was actually darn good.

Sakura giggled quietly as she finished buckling up her boots. "Alright, well, we'll see. Complete the damn mission first."

"Oh, you can bet on it!"

Once again, Naruto's enthusiasm was never a disappointment.

Both finished up and were fully prepared to face the weather and, hell, just the day itself. Being a ninja, essentially every day was like a storm. A lot of the times, much, much worse. Weather conditions were petty to them compared to the things they had to endure throughout every day life. That much was a fact. But that's the kind of world they grew up in. To them, it was normal. To them, they either loved it or they hated it. But the truth of that fact came with tests, and it was only through those tests that really determined which side their heart was truly on.

* * *

"Thanks for walking with me, Naruto. And thanks for coming over last night, I honestly enjoyed it, too." Sakura had turned to tell the boy once they reached the gated entrance to the Konoha Hospital.

"Totally! We'll have to hang out again when I get back from my mission! Speaking of which, I'll make sure to come visit you here as soon as I return." The boy flashed her his trademark grin and stuck his thumb up like he used to do.

Sakura smirked. "You better. Otherwise, no ramen." With that, her smile softened and she leaned forward to give the ramen-obsessed boy a big warming goodbye hug. "I hope you have a great mission, Naruto. I know you'll do amazing."

"Thanks, Sakura. I'll see you again soon." The boy gave into her hug and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist. They stood there for approximately 10 more seconds before breaking apart. With a final wave, Naruto turned to head off in his own lone direction. Sakura blew him a kiss once he was a good 10 meters away and had taken one last glance back at her. Once he was completely out of site, Sakura turned around and entered the hospital, her face still glowing brightly with a smile.

* * *

The instant Sakura stepped in through the double hospital doors, she automatically sensed something was off. She wasn't sure what, quite yet; perhaps the reason was because Tsunade didn't come stomping out of nowhere, barking orders? Well, there was a simple possible explanation to that: She could have very realistically been occupied with a patient or some other important thing. But, no, there was something else... something that Sakura just couldn't quite put her finger on.

So she decided to ask the receptionist.

"Hey, Kiki. Do you happen to know where Tsunade is?" Sakura politely asked the lady behind the desk.

Kiki looked up from what seemed some work involving filing, and stared at Sakura through her large-rimmed round dork glasses "Ehmm... Last I heard, she had to rush out to an emergency calling at the west base, I think. Ehm, I don't really know all the exact details... You should ask Shizune... Ehmm, she should be in the lounge. I think..." The girl returned to her fumbling mid-way through her speech. She was naturally a very jittery girl.

"Alright, thanks Kiki. I'll go look for her now." Sakura told the girl appreciatively, turning to make her way down one of the many hallways that she'd learned to know so well over the years.

Eventually Sakura did manage to reach the nurse's personal lounge, where she did in fact find Shizune. The only thing odd was that Shizune didn't seem to be quite herself. No, in fact, the poor girl was freaking out. Sakura slowly peeked her way through the door at first, but the instant she realized that Shizune wasn't doing so well, she busted through and rushed over to the woman's side.

"Shizune, are you okay?! What's going on?" Sakura blurted, suddenly hungry for answers.

"Oh! Sakura! Oh, goodness... It's Tsunade... She, she left me with all this work and responsibility and...--" Sakura supposed she was referring mainly to the thousands of sheets of paper currently hoarding the space on the table in front of her. "--And complications and problems and argh... I can't do it... I'm just not used to being forced into all this stress all by myself... There's a reason _she's _the Hokage and not me... What do I do? I can't even run this hospital properly! Oh, this is such a disaster..." Shizune looked like crap, and that's something Sakura would never dare to admit out loud. The poor girl's face was flushed, her eyes bloodshot, her veins popping, her hair worse than Sakura's that morning... Sakura felt so bad for her, and she didn't even understand what the deal was behind everything.

"W-Wait, hold on a minute... what exactly is going on, where _is _Tsunade?" Sakura asked frantically, attempting to fish out at least something, but not knowing if Shizune even fully acknowledged her presence under her condition.

"Huh!? Oh, uh... there was... an emergency calling from the west ANBU base camp, that _demanded _she head towards them at once because some ninja were seriously poisoned or... something... I don't even know. I just... ugh, I _don't _understand how it could be serious enough for her to have to go out there in person! That's rarely ever the case... and it was just such short notice that it was so hard for me to take everything all in and... ugh..." Shizune slammed her head down on top of the piles of papers that saved her from severely self-inflicting a lot of pain had it been the table itself. She looked worn and like she was about to pass out. Sakura thought maybe she was over-reacting a little and that she was just afraid of being in command since it was something she was never used to. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride; as they would say.

Releasing a sigh, Sakura placed a comforting hand on Shizune's shoulder. "Don't worry, everything will be alright. I'm sure whatever Tsunade is tending to will turn out to be a success, while you, on the other hand, are not alone. You have me here to help you now, so whatever you need... just ask." She tried to reassure the woman, something she wasn't very good at, but the one thing that remained true was that she was available to help and she would make damn sure to try her best to help out the girl in whatever ways possible.

With her face still pressed to the sheets, Shizune's sniffles eased up. "T-Thank you so much, Sakura..." Finally, she looked back up at the pink-haired girl, face still puffy and red. "Uh, um... well, I think I can probably handle this paperwork. If you could just make rounds throughout the hospital and maintain order within the building, that would be a great help. Those are the two main things..." From having just declared that alone, Shizune already appeared to be feeling a little better. Not just from the one fact that Sakura would be helping out a great deal, but also from the realization that after putting everything out on the table (not literally), it really wasn't something that would be too difficult to accomplish.

Sakura noticed this right away. She smiled. "I'd be more than honored. I'll report back to you in about an hour or two, just to give you any updates and to check up on how you're coping." She formally announced as she headed back out the door.

Shizune forced a smile back. "That would be great. Thank you, again, Sakura. You're a lifesaver, you don't know how much I appreciate it." Her smile turned sincere.

* * *

"Sir! Squads 3 and 5 have been ordered to evacuate out to Sector C for reinforcement upon forecasts of possible night assaults."

No response.

The silver-haired ninja who was being addressed sat idly on a bed of grass with crossed legs. His hands beared a long black Konoha emblem-encrusted katana which he sat sharpening with a oscillating motion. All the while, his eyes remained glued to the open book weighed down by his two feet.

"Oh, really? That's nice."

"Uh… Sir, we are members of Squad 5."

"Yes, I'm aware of that, Yamato." The sitting ninja sighed as he placed his katana down on the patch of grass next to him and lifted himself up off the ground. As he rose, he brushed the specs of metal and dirt off of his pants with his hands, taking his dear time.

"When are we leaving?" He questioned as he bent over to pick up his orange-colored book.

"… Right now, Sir."

The masked ninja let out a small grunt before tucking his book away in his back pant pocket and strapping his katana to his back, still not bothering to hurry up the process.

"How long?"

"Two nights if the sector remains clear, but unspecified if an attack commences." Yamato replied.

"I see." He picked up an empty knapsack and began packing it with the mere essentials he would need. Nothing more.

Once he was finished, he slung the bag over his shoulder and headed towards the only flap on the tent that worked as both an entrance and exit, "Well, don't want to be late, now do we?"

* * *

"Mmmm, please, baby... kiss me _all _better."

Sakura glared disgustingly at the bandaged up patient lying on the medical bed who had been pleading desperately for some form of sexual interaction with Sakura. His hands were making grabby gestures in attempt to somehow leer her over to him. Only to result in failure, of course.

Sakura could understand if he had gotten amnesia or something, as he had taken quite a large blow to his head… but his desires under his circumstances were just plain sick.

"Um… I'm going to go refill your medication." Sakura excused herself, as she fled the room as quickly as she possibly could.

She was lying, of course. He was obviously well enough (physically) to be able to wave his arms around and groan for sex. She figured he just needed a little time to settle down and fall back to sleep. Only then would it be safe to re-enter that room.

On the other hand, she had no way of finding out if Tsunade had returned yet, and had been working like crazy for two hours straight. She had already tended to most of the patients, so she decided it was about time she took a break and reported back to Shizune.

But, just as Sakura was nearing the entrance of the building again, an approaching figure at the corner of her eye caught her immediate attention. She looked up. It was Sai.

Now, this didn't come as too much of a surprise to Sakura, as Sai had been offering his services to the hospital a lot more than other things for the past while. While all the ex-rookies were being offered ANBU corps positions, Sai was resigning his. He'd had his life's fulfillment in ANBU, most of which was involuntary. Once he'd come to his senses, he discovered it wasn't what he truly wanted out of life. Over some time he learned that he preferred helping others over fighting, so he took up his reading, continued his painting hobby, and started assisting everyone within the hospital. Because of this, Sai and Sakura had actually become fairly close, since she actually saw more of him each day opposed to her other teammates, Naruto and Sasuke.

So, the instant Sakura spotted Sai, she rushed forward and gave him a very quick greeting hug.

"Hey, Sai. I didn't see you around earlier, did you just get here?" She asked, smiling at the boy she was so glad to see.

"Ah, hello, Sakura. Yes, I just arrived. How was your night with Naruto?" Since Sakura saw Sai around often, she tended to inform him of her plans.

"It was great! Weather made a turn for the worst, but other than that we really had a good time together." Sakura's smile beamed even more.

"That's... nice." For the first time since their meeting, Sai's glance shifted sideways to the floor.

"Mm. Oh, by the way, Tsunade isn't in right now. She had an emergency calling, so Shizune's in charge. She's got a ton on her plate right now though, and isn't really taking it so well, so I would advise you steer clear of the lounge for now." Sakura informed him, before she had the chance to forget.

Sai's glance shot back up at her, concern etched in his eyes. "Oh, I hope it is nothing too serious." There was a moment's pause, and then he finally popped the question, "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Well, Sakura had already made her rounds and was actually going to go back into the lounge to check up on Shizune, but she supposed that in a hospital as busy as that one, with as many injured ninja fresh off the battlefield... the assistance one can provide is essentially endless.

And then she suddenly remembered the horny patient.

"Oh! Yes! There is something... Well, I was just wondering if you could tend to the patient in room 31B. He gave me a bit of, um... a hard time. But that's just because I'm a woman, so you should be totally fine." Well that was certainly one solution to her problem.

Sai was a bit curious and wanted to pester her for what, exactly, she meant by that, but respected her discretion. "Sure, I can do that." He told her, giving her his customary smile.

"Thanks a lot, Sai! Hey, I'll catch you around. I have to go check up on a few more things." Sakura said, giving him a curt wave as she shuffled past him to make her way down the opposite hallway.

Sai's smile remained, and he returned the wave, turning to watch as she head past him. "Okay, see ya." He waited a little longer than necessary before he curved back around to continue on his way.

As unimportant as it was at their moment in time, Sakura really need to work on her perception skills.

* * *

**A/N: So... I, like, completely re-wrote this whole chapter. xD; I hope to maybe get back into continuing this fic, but I really could not muster up the motivation to do so with such SHITTY first chapters (yes, that includes the next few chapters, which I also plan to re-write/edit). So, for those of you who are following this story or have already read the first original chapters... I would advise you read them again. Because I made A LOT of changes, some crucial to the entire storyline. So, if you don't re-read them... you may be like in a total 'WTF' moment later on. Just a warning!**

**Anyway, please review! It's one of the many things that keeps me going.**

**Thank you.**


	2. Convenience

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 2: Convenience**_

"She still hasn't come back yet?" Sakura re-entered the lounge, expecting neither Shizune or Tsunade to be present, but to her dismay Shizune still remained in the exact same spot and position to which she first entered upon, working as busily as ever.

"I'm afraid not, Sakura. Something isn't right. It shouldn't be taking her _this _long to journey from here and back. Maybe the injuries were actually more serious than I had anticipated." Shizune let out a sigh of frustration, fighting strongly against the will to just randomly scream out at the top of her lungs and go chasing after Tsunade herself.

After completely shutting the door, Sakura asked "Who's taking her position in giving out missions right now?" and headed over to the compact kitchen corner where the typical job conveniences such as cheap coffee beans, tea bags, and sugar cubes were stashed.

"Sasuke. After the storm eased up, he came and complained about not being assigned any missions today, so I chose to assign him the mission of assigning missions to others. He wasn't too happy about that either, but I suppose he accepted it because he was able empathize with the other ninjas." Shizune's tone was distracted as she was constantly sifting through the wads of papers.

Sakura grinned. She could just imagine Sasuke sitting hunched over in the overly large blue chair, handing out S-rank missions to rookies, with a mean, pouty look on his face. "Hmm… interesting." Sakura drawled thoughtfully as she sucked on the sugar cube she had abducted from the round glass jar.

"Look, Sakura," Shizune began as she abruptly snapped out of her focused daze on the paperwork. She whirled around in her seat to look up at Sakura from over the back of the chair. "Would you do me a favor?" She clasped both hands together, giving Sakura the most pleading look she could.

"O-Of course..." Sakura muttered bewilderingly, having been caught off guard by Shizune's sudden diversion.

"Perfect. Would you go over to the Aviary and attach this note—" Shizune turn back quickly to shuffle through the papers in search for something specific. The instant she found the small sealed envelope, she spun back around to face Sakura, stretching her arm out toward her, note firmly in hand. "—to one of the messenger falcons, and send it to the base camp Tsunade is at?" Shizune asked; her face already seeming to brighten a little. Just a little.

Sakura was a little hesitant at first, but she reached out and grabbed the little envelope anyway. "Um... are you sure about this? I mean, she's been gone for two hours, I'd like to think she should be back any minute now."

But Shizune shook her head. "I don't care, it's just in case. It's not too much to ask, is it? I could always get someone else to do it... I just figured maybe you'd want to get out for a little bit."

Although, Sakura didn't mind, she actually appreciated that Shizune wanted to give he a small break from hospital work. She only wished she could return the favor. "No, it's fine. I'd be happy to do it. I'll report back as soon as I'm done." And with that, Sakura gave Shizune a curt wave and headed for the doorway.

"Thank you so much, Sakura! Again, I really appreciate it." The woman cheered gratefully as the girl exited the room.

Sakura hated that feeling when exiting the cool air-conditioned, fluorescent-lighted building, only to be greeted with wet, murky streets. The sun was hiding behind gray clouds, so even though it was mid-day, it felt like a somber evening. As much as the environment put her down at times, she had tasks to attend to, so she steadily began making her way toward the Aviary. Thankfully, it was just a block away. But in Konoha… even within a block, chances are you'll end up seeing at least _one _individual you're acquainted with. In this case, it was two.

"Oh, hey! Sakura! Over here!"

It was one of her closest friends, Ino; along with the shadow-user, Shikamaru. There was nothing 'official' between the two yet, but Sakura could sense _something _was cooking, as the two had been seen spending a lot more time together than usual, lately.

She walked toward them. "Oh, hi guys. You heading for a mission, or just... 'hanging out'?" That was her alternative way of asking if they were on a date. But she wasn't as obnoxious as Naruto, so she wasn't going to embarrass them by popping the question bluntly.

"We have a mission in an hour, but we decided we'd just hang out for a bit beforehand." Ino responded innocently, sending the girl a beaming smile. "What are you up to on this god awful day?" She asked, smile turning upside-down as she glanced disdainfully up at the darkened sky.

"I'm helping Shizune run some errands. Tsunade's out of town."

Ino looked back at Sakura, a bleak smile now apparent on her face. "Right... Of course." She sighed, nodding her head in moderation. "I should have guessed. You're always working. You have no life."

Wow, low blow.

Sakura retaliated with an offended eyebrow-raised, mouth-dropped glare, and placed her hands on her hips with attitude. "Uh, I do _too _have a life. Just because I work to support my lifestyle, doesn't mean I have no life. I don't still live with my mother like _you_ do, so it's natural that I have to work more. It's not a lifestyle I regret."

Ouch. Regardless of the fact that they've reunited their bond of friendship, they had become so accustomed to bickering over the past years that they couldn't quite shake it completely.

Ino merely rolled her eyes. "Whatever, forehead. Just like you, I don't regret my lifestyle either." And after she said that, she sent a quick side glance at the boy next to her, a small smile making its reappearance on her face.

"Whoa, okay, okay, let's find a compromise here..." The shadow-user boy finally cut in with a sigh. "I have an idea. Since we're going to the bar tonight to hang out with some of the others... right?" The boy glanced at the blonde next to him to seek clarification. "Well, how about Sakura comes along?" He averted his attention back to the pink-haired girl. "Would you be interested?"

Sakura more than appreciated his invitation, but she just wasn't quite sure if she'd be available to go. She hadn't received any information or updates on Tsunade's situation, so until she learned more, her schedule would have to remain closed. "I don't know, yet..." Sakura started, eyes shifting downwards. "I mean, I'd kind of like to hear back from Tsunade first. Her situation was a bit of an emergency, so when she gets back, it all depends on whether she'll need my help or not." Sakura stated honestly.

Ino made a little 'pfft' sound with her lips. "Right, whatever. You keep telling yourself that. But I agree with Shika, I'm willing to have you tag along if you _want. _I mean, really, how difficult is it to take a break for _one _night?"

Sakura's eyes rose to reunite with Ino's. "I'll think about it. Thanks for the offer, anyway."

"Alright, Sakura. Well, have fun doing... whatever you're doing. If you change your mind about tonight, we're all meeting up around 8, so if you come to my house beforehand, we can go together." Ino informed her with a light shrug of her shoulders.

"Okay. Whether I see you guys later or not, take care." Sakura gave them a quick wave before taking off on her previously set route.

"See you." Both Shikamaru and Ino waved back at her, then continued on their own merry way.

The rest of her journey to the Aviary was pleasant. No more interruptions. Although, after her little banter with Ino, she couldn't help but ponder over her current lifestyle. She wasn't lying when she said she enjoyed it. She loved her life, very much so. However, Ino made it very clear that Sakura was in fact a work-a-holic and never really did get out much or find time for fun. That was the whole reason she'd hung out with Naruto last night after so long. She didn't avoid him on purpose, she just never really had the spare time to 'hang out'. She spent way more time in the hospital than her own home. She was open for changes and maybe getting out a little more, she just had to approach it gradually. She'd been so obsessed with working that it would be too dramatic of a change were she to just drop it all and go enjoy herself. Not like she could even afford that, in the first place.

* * *

Sakura arrived, not much later, at the Aviary. Upon entering, the place was pretty much deserted as usual; only the guards remained standing around, with the exception of about two ANBU ninja. But that was just in the registry area; the room she was destined to enter was the main room with all the falcons. When she entered that room, it was a tad more busy… and noisy.

She quickly made her way past all the squawking and feather-spurting bird cages over to one of the dispatching windows, where a tall male stood with shaded glasses covering his eyes. He had short stubble growing on his face, and his brunette hair was in a mass of messy locks. He looked very scruffy.

Sakura couldn't help but find him quite attractive.

"Yo, can I help you?" He asked in a deep, yet monotone voice.

"U-Uh… um, bed—I mean, bird… yes, um… I need a bird… to, uh, send a message to the west ANBU base…" Sakura stuttered, fighting the urge to ask this man of his particulars.

"Uh, yeah… sure…" He answered wearily as he gave his stubby brown beard a quick scratch. "I'll be right back." He told her before disappearing behind the cages.

Only then when his sight was not blinding her vision did her senses return. She smacked her head from the epiphany of stupefaction. She needed to recollect herself. She didn't know when this thing started, but for quite a while now whenever she was in the presence a hot guy, she would stutter and lose her cool. Maybe it was because she never really had a legitimate boyfriend. Sure, that certainly accentuated Ino 'no life' theory.

"Will this one do?" Scruffy Boy asked as he reappeared from behind the cages on his way back to Sakura. The bird stood perched on his lifted bent arm.

"Yes, that's excellent. Thank you." Sakura thanked as he transferred the bird over onto her arm.

After that, Scruffy Boy was gone.

Sakura decided to pay no more attention to the thoughts of the boy, and instead tied the mini letter to the plastic-textured ankle of the bird.

After triple-checking that the letter was completely secured, Sakura leaned over the window sill and swung her arm out to allow the falcon to take off and soar away. For some reason, Sakura ending up standing there for an extra couple minutes, watching the falcon steadily recede. Once it was completely out of site, Sakura finally left the building.

* * *

On her way back to the hospital, Sakura had a sudden idea. It was as she was passing by the largest building in Konoha – the Town Hall – that she recalled what Shizune had mentioned earlier about Sasuke distributing missions at the Missionary. Considering the Missionary was located within the large circular building and it was on the way back anyway, Sakura decided it couldn't hurt to pop in for just a second to give her dear friend a visit. She couldn't remember when she last saw Sasuke... she had a mission with him five days ago, but their team consisted of 8 people, so she didn't really get much of a chance to interact with him. Before that, most of the occasions she saw him were merely pass-by's. Both were very busy individuals, and although Sasuke was now back in good books with everyone, she still didn't have the same type of bond with him as she did with Naruto. He was a lot more laid back, since he'd gotten his revenge and no longer had much to really be stuck up about it, but a lot of his old traits still lingered, such as being anti-social, quiet, and apathetic. That's the way he's always been, and Sakura had a feeling that that was the way he would always be.

Sakura climbed the spiral staircase all the way to the top of the building, until she appeared before the door leading to the Missionary room. She leaned in slightly before entering, to listen if there were any occupants in the room other than Sasuke. She did in fact hear some mumbling coming from a few various different voices, so she decided to wait momentarily until they exited. From her acute hearing, however, she couldn't help but catch a few of the phrases being exchanged between the voices; "But Sir... my students have only done two missions before. I'm not sure they're quite prepared to tackle an A-rank mission." "So you'd rather me just send them out to the battlefield now and skip the essential training? Because all D-rank, C-rank and B-rank missions are worthless. They won't get you anywhere in this world. It's not an easy one-ticket trip. You have to live and learn the hard way. If you're not prepared to do that, then you should just give up your headbands right now." Sakura recognized the voice immediately as Sasuke's. Even if she didn't recognize the voice, she certainly recognized the cold, harsh mannerisms. That was the thing with Sasuke, he figured that anything he did or could have done... anyone else could just as easily do. He just couldn't seem to realize that most people weren't quite as special as he was. He would be the worst sensei.

There was just a little more dialogue exchanged between the occupants before silence befell. Then many footsteps could be heard ascending toward the door Sakura stood before. Sakura backed up a bit to allow the sensei and his three students to exit the room once opening the door. The sensei acknowledged Sakura and gave her a curt bow before directing his three students down the hallway toward the staircase. Sakura could see on all three of the little faces the look of shame and sadness, one even looked like they were on the verge of bursting into tears at any moment. Sakura released a sympathetic sigh, but paid the team no more attention as she glanced up through the now-open door at her old teammate. And he just sat there staring back at her through hard, black eyes.

"What are you doing here?" He asked bluntly.

Sakura walked into the room, shutting the door behind her. "What? Is it wrong of me to want to give my friend a visit?" She asked innocently as she made her way over to the large desk and the grumpy boy sitting behind it.

Sasuke merely grunted and shrugged. "I don't care. Just as long as you're not here to make my day any worse. Not like I see how that could even be possible."

Sakura didn't know whether to consider that a compliment or an insult. She supposed it could go both ways, so she just decided to ignore it. "Well, anyway, aside from today... how have you been?" She started with an open question, expecting nothing positive in return, regardless.

Sasuke sighed. "Fine. I guess." He wasn't much of a small-talker and his elaborating skills were certainly nothing to boast about.

"That's good. … I guess." Sakura added, a very slight hint of mockery in her tone. There was about a 10 second moment of awkward silence, and then Sakura's recent encounter suddenly came to mind. "Oh, yeah... were you invited to hang out at the bar tonight with a bunch of people?"

"No." Sasuke responded quickly. "Who's going?"

"I'm not exactly sure. Ino just invited me today..." She then paused for a brief moment, before continuing, "I'm still not sure if I'll be able to make it, but if I can... would you want to go too?"

"No." Sasuke quickly responded, again.

This bummed Sakura a little, but it came as no shock. "I wish you would have said yes. If I go... I have a feeling Ino will be all over the place, so I'd just be sitting alone. If I had you there, at least I wouldn't be."

Sasuke just sighed again and closed his eyes. His elbows were propped up on the table in front of him, fingers interlocked. "Sakura... going to the bar would be a waste of my time. They're at war out in the fields, so it's our job to support them in any way we can. Going to the bar and getting drunk... how is that supposed to help?" His eyes re-opened and he stared at the girl with a very direct, serious look.

But Sakura couldn't meet his gaze, she just stared at the desk. "I know that... trust me, of all people, I know. And just what do you think I spend all my time doing? It's not like I waste my whole life away without contributing anything. I learned today that it's O.K. to take a break _now and then._ So, if it turns out I've got nothing too important on my plate, I'm seriously considering going." And finally she looked back up at him, returning the same stare. "You should too."

But Sasuke shook his head and still he refused. "Sorry, Sakura. You go have fun, but it's just not my sort of thing."

Sakura glanced down at her fingernails and waited a moment before replying. "Alright, I respect that. I just figured I'd ask out of consideration, anyway." She really had expected nothing more from him.

"Well... thanks." Sasuke said, just to be polite. He didn't really mean it.

Sakura remained in the office for a few minutes longer, continuing her (essentially) one-sided conversation with the raven-haired boy. She proceeded to ask him questions about what he'd been up to, what missions he'd done lately, if he was ever going to start looking for a girlfriend... things like that. Sasuke mostly responded with short one-sentence answers, but on certain others... he just glared at her. Luckily, a knock on the door came to Sakura's rescue. She may not have realized it, but if she continued much longer Sasuke might just have decided to start practicing his Goukakyuu no Jutsu right then and there. What appeared to be another Genin team was entering to receive their mission from the boy. Sakura glanced over her shoulder at the team as they politely entered after Sasuke welcomed them in, but turned briefly back to Sasuke before they could reach the desk. She leaned towards him slightly, and cupped one hand on the side of her mouth to imply privacy. "Don't be too harsh... They're only Genin. Can you at _least _do me that favor?" She whispered to him.

Sasuke merely sighed and folded his arms. "Whatever."

But that was a good enough answer for Sakura. It certainly beat a 'No' by a long shot. She smiled at him and gave him a short little wave. "Alright, Sasuke, well it was nice seeing you. I'll catch you around later." She began heading toward the doorway as she said her farewells, the entering team proceeding forward to take her place in front of the desk.

"See you." Was all Sasuke said as he watched her leave.

After shutting the door behind her, Sakura left the building and began making her way back to the hospital. She hoped, by the time she arrived, that Tsunade would be back.

* * *

As the outline of the hospital building came into view, Sakura couldn't help but have this intuition that something was a little off. Her eyes narrowed, she wasn't quite sure what the feeling was, but it was strong, so she began walking at a much faster pace along the stretched fence toward the gate entrance. Her mindset was in a bit of a trance as she focused on whatever it was that she was feeling. What was strange was that the closer she got, the stronger the feeling got, too.

Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a fleet of ANBU ninja, medics, and her blonde, large-breasted sensei busted out from one of the side streets and rushed straight through the hospital gate and into the building doors.

Sakura halted the instant she spotted the crowd, knocking her completely out of her trance. Her breath got caught in her throat the moment she spotted Tsunade. Hurrying. It was very rare for Sakura to ever see her sensei in such a manner. Sure, the woman hurried all the time, but hardly ever _this _much.

Upon this sight, it was only common sense to Sakura that the situation was very dire and that she may be needed. Even if she wasn't, Sakura was always quite the nosy one… and she was very curious as to what was going on.

So, before receiving the opportunity to think twice about her decision of action, Sakura took off in a quick sprint after Tsunade and the rest of fleet in the direction of the hospital.

She busted in through the double doors after them, and saw them immediately heading for the ER, so she quickly followed. On their way, Shizune must have heard all the commotion, because as Sakura ran past the lounge, Shizune came popping her head out of the door to see what was going on. Immediately spotting Sakura, Shizune followed suit.

"What the hell is going on?!" Shizune questioned as she finally caught up and ran on par with Sakura.

"That's what I'm here to find out." Sakura answered, giving Shizune a quick glance before averting it to the backs of the fleet, her expression suddenly dead serious.

Then, the fleet separated. A whole segment went into one room; another went down a different hallway; the other into another empty room; etcetera. But Sakura didn't care about all them… her focus was set on Tsunade. Wherever Tsunade went, Sakura wanted to follow. Apparently Shizune did, too, as she followed Sakura into the room Sakura followed Tsunade into.

Tsunade still wasn't alone, though. She was probably accompanied with the most medics; it was hard enough for Sakura to squeeze herself into the room, with the addition of Shizune.

She couldn't even see any of the patients… from what she _could _see, she analyzed that there were probably two or three patients being attended to, but she really couldn't tell; it was so chaotic. She would probably have to wait a little while before she even saw or figured out all what was going on.

"Haruno!"

… Or maybe not.

"Y-Yes, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura questioned as loud as she possibly could over all the noise. She was surprised Tsunade even noticed her... and so quickly, at that.

"Get your ass over here!" Tsunade yelled, sounding pretty damn serious. And scary.

Sakura made no hesitation in shoving her way through the crowd of medics. It was a real struggle, and took her a little while to finally get through, but she did it. She made it to the one patient that Tsunade was currently attending to. She couldn't see who it was though, exactly, since he or she was covered with a white blanket.

"Who—" Sakura didn't think it'd hurt to know who it was, so she lifted her hand towards the top end of the blanket – about to lift it up – when suddenly Tsunade's hand quickly grasped Sakura's wrist firmly, completely immobilizing it.

"Sakura. Are you prepared for the worst case scenario?" Tsunade asked as she stared down at Sakura with an extremely intense gaze.

Sakura looked worriedly up at Tsunade. At the mention of 'worst case scenario', Sakura's heart could only start racing miles. This was serious. This was fucking _serious, _and here Sakura was panicking and wishing it wasn't too late to back out. Whoever that person was, they had to be extremely important in order for this to be a 'worst case scenario'. There was no way that it was just something very gory or whatever… Sakura's been through plenty of those before where Tsunade's _never _considered them 'worst case scenario's.

Over her increasingly sped up heart beat, Sakura could barely think properly. But what time did she have to think? She had to stop thinking about seeing somebody important in such danger, but rather how quickly and effectively she could help them.

Quickly averting her gaze down to the blanketed figure's direction, she put on the most bravest and serious look she could and clenched her fists tightly with an extreme amount of anxiety. "Show me." She demanded.

And then in one quick sweep, Tsunade tore the blanket away from the silhouette.

_Hatake Kakashi's _silhouette.

* * *

**A/N: So, made a lot of new edits on this one too. Please read/re-read it, also. (Actually that pretty much goes for all the chapters...) If you didn't catch my message on the first chapter, I've made some important changes that will affect the whole storyline, so that's why it's important to re-read.**

**Look forward to the next chapter, Sakura and Kakashi actually get to interact! Hooray!**

**As always, please review. :) Much appreciated, especially since I want feedback on all my edits.**


	3. Rejection

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 3: Rejection**_

Sakura panicked. All of a sudden every single thought or memory stored in her mind had washed well away. Seeing her ex-sensei lying unconscious on the gurney right there in front of her very own eyes made the guts inside her stomach squirm uncomfortably as if attempting to break free. She'd had this very same feeling few times before, but those were ages ago. Due to her medical practices over the years, her strength to handle these situations had grown exceptionally well, but for some reason at that moment she felt as if she had been plunked down at the very beginning again.

"Sakura! What the hell are you doing standing there like a rotting liver?! Help me search his body for poisons and infections!" Tsunade yelled impatiently at the dazed young medic.

But Sakura could not even manage to answer. She did not know where to begin or what to do; her memory on everything medical-related seemed to have vanished as well.

"Sakura! Let's go! Snap out of it!"

Her vision was next to go – at first, blurry, and then a steady fade to an unwelcoming darkness.

"Saku- Sakura! Ah, shit."

And that was the last Sakura had heard as her entire brain had finally shut down completely and sent her body collapsing painlessly but imposingly onto the cold, hard floor.

* * *

_'I warned you something like this would happen! Why didn't you listen to me?! You always listen to me during your training, yet when it comes to the real thing, you go off along your own route! I'm deeply disappointed in you, Sakura.'_

"Ngh… w-why… does my head hurt?" Sakura mumbled to herself, blindly raising a palm-turned hand to her forehead. "… And why am I just waking up? I don't remember going to bed... I thought—" As all the memories finally struck back, Sakura's eyes shot wide open and she jumped right off the gurney in an instant, only the sudden rush was too much her body could handle so she toppled over onto the floor.

"Shit! Kakashi-sensei! _Shit!_" Using the gurney as a support, Sakura helped herself back onto her feet and once she was finally in complete control of her body again, she rushed out of the small recovery room as quickly as she could.

As she sped down the halls, so many questions and thoughts ran through her mind that she felt like she could faint all over again. _'What happened after I fainted? Is Kakashi alive? Is he okay? How much time has passed? Is Tsunade going to kill me?'_

But fortunately for her, a good number of those questions were immediately answered as she finally reached the door of the room where she had previously fainted in her ex-sensei's unconsciously ill presence; Tsunade and Kakashi were currently chatting. Sakura was just about to barge straight in when she heard the words "--until I find the cure, I am dead serious, you _**must **_stay here. Since I do not know the curse's symptoms, you could possibly die any day now. As Head Nurse, I can and _will _not take that risk. Do you understand me?" There was then the sound of a springy bed screech and steadily ascending footsteps.

"Hatake Kakashi, don't you dare!" Tsunade's loud footsteps were heard running towards Sakura and then stopped right before the door. "It is not safe! What if something happens to you while you're at home and you won't have enough time to get to the hospital?! Then you'll--"

Kakashi sighed, clearly annoyed. "Tsunade-sama. I am _fine; _I will _be fine._ Trust me, I was there; You weren't; _I _know what happened; _You _don't. So, if you'll please—"

Before Sakura even had time to register the current situation, the door swung open and there stood Tsunade with her back turned, and Kakashi – for some reason looking taller and darker than usual – glaring directly down into Sakura's returning gaze.

"…Uh—I—I'm not—I wasn't—"

But it didn't matter what Sakura came up with, because Kakashi just shrugged right past Tsunade and her; ignoring them completely.

"Hatake Kakashi! Get back here! If you leave and something happens to you, then you better not expect me to do anything about it! I'm warning you! Because I won't!" But it was too late; Kakashi was gone instantly in a puff of white smoke "… Ugh… dammit!" From an over-whelming amount of stress and loss of what to do, Tsunade turned around with her hand wrapped over her forehead and finally addressed Sakura. "Are you all right, Sakura? You took a pretty bad fall back there."

Sakura didn't know what to say; what little information she'd just unexpectedly overheard came as somewhat of a huge shock to her. "Uh… um, yeah… yes, I'm fine." She managed to mutter.

"Good." Tsunade replied thoughtlessly as she pushed her way through the door back into the room.

Sakura stood motionless as her lost gaze followed Tsunade into the room. Not really knowing whether it was safe to question Tsunade or not, she decided to take the risk anyways. She walked over to the table that Tsunade was sitting on and cautiously joined her. "… Tsunade-sama…? W-What's wrong with Kakashi-sensei?"

There was quite a long moment of silence before Tsunade finally let out a loud sigh. "Oh, Sakura. It's awful. It appears that one of our enemies specializes in curse magic and has developed some new curse which he's just laid on Kakashi as a test subject. Who knows what it could do to him? What the hell am _I_ supposed to do about this?!" Tsunade roared in a frustration as she slammed her fist down on the table's surface, leaving it a nice large dent. "DAMN that curse magic! And DAMN Kakashi for being the stubborn ass as he is! Does he really enjoy risking his life that much?!"

"Well, I think we'd all be pretty pathetic ninja if we didn't risk our lives to the fullest." Sakura suddenly mentioned, soon wondering whether it was a wise decision to have said that or not. "But I do agree that Kakashi should stay here and be monitored under our care..."

Tsunade sighed after giving Sakura a peculiar yet not particularly gentle glance. Tilting her head towards the ceiling and fixing her gaze on a random spot, another thought appeared to have crossed Tsunade's mind as her face showed a very stern look, "There's more to it, though." She mentioned.

Tsunade's sudden change of manner piqued Sakura's curiosity even more; however, by the look of it she wasn't quite sure it was about to be very exciting news. "… More to what?" Sakura decided to push it along.

"Kakashi's state." Tsunade said and then paused. "It's not just the curse that's affecting him. He lost… something. In the battle. He lost something very dear to him that may affect him for the rest of his life."

Sakura didn't even have to think twice about what Tsunade was talking about. "Oh, God…" She just couldn't believe it. It was such an awkward thought to imagine her ex-sensei losing his—

"Poor Yamato... it's a shame, really. He was such a great—"

Now Sakura felt confused and embarrassed. "–Wait, what? Why are you suddenly talking about Yamato? I thought we were talking about Kakashi losing his… well, um… you know…"

Tsunade sent a quirked brow and bemused look in Sakura's direction. "Sakura, what are you talking about?"

"Nothing." Sakura immediately snapped defensively.

Tsunade took a small moment to ponder, before suddenly bursting out in outrageous laughter. "Oh, Sakura. Who _did _you get that kind of mind from? Well, no worries; I can assure you… Kakashi's _katana _is perfectly fine."

Sakura's face burned crimson red and was much too embarrassed to say anything, so she just decided to clear her throat ever so slightly. She was glad about one thing though: she managed to add comic relief to the moment without even intending it. But as soon as she created it the sooner it was gone again. Realization of the actual incident finally filled in and she felt ashamed for not taking this in the seriousness it should be taken in.

"So… Yamato, he…" Sakura started, dragging them back on track.

Tsunade's smirk turned itself upside-down as her gaze re-focused itself back up on the ceiling. "I'm afraid so, Sakura. But arrangements for his funeral have already been prepared and will occur on Saturday. It'd be nice for you to come along. I know you didn't know him all too well, but I'm sure it would at least make Kakashi feel a little better if he knew you cared enough."

"All right. I'll go for sure." Sakura said with a faint smile.

Tsunade looked back down at her. "Thank you, Sakura." She said, returning the smile.

"But… sensei, what are we going to do about Kakashi in the meantime? What happens if he suddenly, well, spazzes out or faints or something?" Sakura inquired. She wasn't too certain she'd be capable of coping with the idea of someone – her ex-sensei, no less – randomly spazzing out on her when she least expected. It was rather frightening, actually.

"I must admit I'm not too sure about that, Sakura. But I would like you to do one favor for me… do keep an eye out for him as much as you can, would you? I have a very dodgy feeling about this curse so I would like to discover the symptoms and stats of it as soon as possible. So far things seem to be okay, but I've had several incidences before where symptoms have deceived you for a short while and then suddenly turned lethal. So, if you could please do that for me? If Kakashi manages to get the jist that you're stalking him and ends up confronting you, then just tell him it's under my orders as a nurse, and if he has an issue with it he can bring it up with me."

"Okay, sure. I'll try to do what I can." Sakura accepted like she didn't really have all that much of a choice. But she truly did wish to help, as annoyingly stubborn as Kakashi could sometimes be.

"Thanks a lot, Sakura." Tsunade smiled at her gratefully, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder to try and assure her that things will be okay. But Sakura still sat there like a hollow doll trying to comprehend everything she's just discovered. Her ex-sensei is in a possible near-death state; her previously temporary ex-sensei _is _dead; there's a new curse on the loose that nobody knows anything about; and she felt shitty and partly guilty for half of all this by fainting like a weak wannabe-nurse. She wanted to feel pissed off, but couldn't due to the more important issues that needed attending to. "Well then, it's getting late; you should go relax or get some sleep after such a long day of work, Sakura. And I—well, I need to go have a drink. Goodnight, Sakura." Still with her head in a thoughtful daze, Tsunade exited the room, leaving Sakura alone on the table.

Sakura remained sitting there – still not believing any of this. Her ex-sensei – Hatake Kakashi - could die at any possible moment right now and she wouldn't even know. She couldn't imagine what life would be like without him. A life without Kakashi-sensei is barely a life at all. Same went for pretty much anyone close to her, but Kakashi was the one who'd practically brought her into her life – it was _way _too frightening to think about. Tsunade was right, she needed rest. Or more or less she needed some way to escape these thoughts for just a little while. She _had _had a long day, so any more stress would just destroy her.

Finally looking up at the clock for the very first time, Sakura noticed that it was 7:20 and suddenly remembered the offer Ino made her that very day for 8:00. Then she realized that going to the bar with some friends would be a _perfect _way for giving her mind a rest. At least Tsunade suggested she take the night off, otherwise Sakura probably would have stayed up all night at the hospital, working off the stress.

Sighing to herself, Sakura turned to switch off the light and then quickly headed out of the building after exiting the room and retrieving her belongings from the lounge.

* * *

"Sakura! So you've decided to come after all! That's so great to hear! Just give me a few more minutes while I finish getting ready." Ino exclaimed after opening her front door and welcoming Sakura inside. No later had she left Sakura alone at the door, was she off to continue primping as she had declared.

Sakura had been in Ino's house so many times before that she knew exactly where everything was. Removing her boots at the side wall of the entrance, she then walked straight over into the vacant bathroom while Ino occupied the only other in the house. Since Sakura didn't even really get any time to primp, herself, she decided to give herself the quickest 'pirate bath' she could. After quickly stripping herself of her attire, she grabbed one of the folded hand towels off the shelf and dabbed it in a bit of soap and water. She then proceeded to wipe down all the essential areas on her body that would require cleaning. After doing so, she rinsed the soap out of the cloth and then went over the same areas again to wipe any soap left on her body. The whole process only took Sakura about three minutes, considering she had become so accustomed to doing it so many times during numerous missions in the past. If she really thought about it, she'd actually probably bathed herself more times that way than with actual showers or baths. It used to gross her out initially, but she eventually got used to it and good enough at it.

Once she completely finished up, she wrapped a towel around her body and walked out of the bathroom. She made her way briskly over to the bathroom Ino occupied, and rapped lightly on the door. "Hey, Ino, mind if I borrow an outfit of yours? I didn't really bring anything nice to wear." As fashionable as her ninja attire was, it certainly wasn't the most appealing to wear out, especially when worn throughout a whole busy day.

"Yeah, sure, go ahead! You know where to find my closet." The girl's voice sounded from behind the other side of the door.

And indeed Sakura did. Entering Ino's room, Sakura headed straight for the closet and began searching for something decent, but nothing too fancy. She settled with some white shorts, a loose light pink top to match her hair, and some white criss-cross strapped sandals.

After she dressed herself up, she tossed the towel in Ino's hamper, and walked over to her friend's vanity mirror. She was lucky enough, her hair lasted pretty good throughout the day. She just gave it a quick brush through with a comb. Since Sakura didn't really wear make-up, she didn't even have to raid Ino's make-up box. At the time she finished up with her hair, Ino came rushing out of the bathroom. "Alright, come on, let's go! We're going to be late!" With that, Ino grabbed her purse and headed out the door; Sakura followed promptly.

* * *

"It's about time you two got here." Shikamaru complained, looking clearly impatient with them.

"Sorry! We're women. We have a lot more to take care of before going out, mister." Ino snapped at him, placing her hands on her hips as she pouted.

Shikamaru just shook his head and sighed. "Women..."

"Well let's stop dawdling out here, and go in!" Ino exclaimed, hooking her arm around Shikamaru's and leading them into the bar.

Sakura followed in behind them, saying nothing, but not really having anything to say in the first place. Once again, she wasn't quite accustomed to outings like these.

"TenTen! Kiba! Neji! Hinata! Lee! Hey guys!" Ino yelled throughout the entire bar in that loud voice that drove everyone crazy. The bar was already loud enough, but somehow Ino still managed to overpower it. She never ceased to amaze Sakura.

The addressed ninjas were all sitting together at a round table in one of the far corners, some of them already with empty shot glasses laid out on the table, all in the midst of chatting. Ino's loud announcement of their arrival made all their heads turn, but Lee was the first to jump out of his seat and return the loud greeting over the entire bar. "Hello friends! Come and join our constructive youthful discussions!"

Ino then lead the way over to their table and stole some seats from other vacant tables for the three of them.

"Wow, Sakura's here for once? There's something new. Not working late hours at the hospital as always, tonight, Sakura?" Kiba teased, obnoxious as always.

"Oh, go shove it up your ass, Kiba." Ino bit back at him in Sakura's defense. Sakura merely glared at the dog-boy.

The three of them sat down, then the waiter came by and Ino ordered the drinks for them. Sakura just let Ino handle that part, since she figured her opinion was best. Sakura at least had the freedom of choice for how much she actually consumed, so she wasn't too worried.

While awaiting their drinks, Ino immediately began chatting up a storm, telling all her 'interesting' stories to the group. Sakura had pretty much already heard most of Ino's stories, so she tended to drift off and not pay attention to what the girl was saying. While the others were engrossed in the conversation, Sakura felt like a bit of a loner just sitting there glancing mindlessly around the bar.

As she sat there, eyes wandering, she suddenly noticed that same weird feeling from earlier return. Everything seemed normal within the bar, so she still couldn't quite place her finger on what the feeling was. It was almost like... a strange aura of some sort. She just wasn't sure where, exactly, it was emanating from. And she wasn't sure if it was a good aura... or bad.

While she searched the room for anything odd that might be creating that feeling, her eyes had to double-take before settling on one specific individual. Her insides froze. At that very coincidental moment, her gaze just happened to land on the back of the one man that had erupted so much chaos not too long ago within her day; the very man that she had come to this bar to relieve her thoughts of – her ex-sensei, Hatake Kakashi.

'_Well, shit.'_

She had no idea what the odds were of her actually falling under a coincidence quite like this, but she managed to achieve it either way. She couldn't help but just stare at the man like she were some creep. She wasn't doing it on purpose, her whole body had just frozen and she was at a loss of what she should do. She wanted to go talk him; it looked like he'd had a few drinks, maybe he'd loosened up a bit and would be willing to open up. But if not, she didn't want him to get the feeling that she was just being nosy and she especially didn't want to get on his nerves. Maybe he just needed a little time. Then again... Sakura wasn't sure how much time he really had. Her concern for his health overruled any other concerns she had, any day. So she had no choice. She had to go speak to him; if she didn't go now, then she would not know when else she would get the opportunity. She rarely ever got the chance to see or speak with him unless she personally asked him to help her out with some training. Plus, even though Tsunade didn't have much luck speaking with him... Sakura figured her own bond with her ex-sensei had to be much stronger than the bond between him and her current sensei. They'd been through so much more together. Even though the look he gave her when she saw him in the hospital wasn't the most warming look, she decided it was worth a shot.

Excusing herself silently from the busy table without having even touched her drinks, she slowly and cautiously tip-toed her way over to the bar table where Kakashi sat drinking. There were two guys on either side of him, so she had no choice but to approach him from behind.

"Um… K-Kakashi-sensei? It's me, Sakura. I was wondering if I could talk to you for just a second…" She asked as sweetly as she could from behind, leaning slightly to the side in attempt to catch a glimpse of his face. She did thankfully get a reaction from him, but it wasn't particularly the one she had in mind. Kakashi gulped back the remaining liquid in his glass before slamming it down on the wooden bar table. Right afterward, he slid his mask back up over his mouth and nose and stood up from his stool. He then turned around, which had gotten Sakura excited, but her hopes were instantly shot down when he didn't even bother to take one single glance toward her. He just walked straight past her without saying a word as he made his way toward the exit. Briskly, he left, shutting the bulky wooden door behind him, leaving Sakura standing there completely alone and hurt. When he became so distant, she didn't know. Even under other terrible cases, she never recalled him acting that cold. Especially to her. Of course, it wasn't her place to judge, she had no idea exactly what happened out on the battlefield, but whatever it was must have been extremely awful for him to act that way. Now Sakura was even more interested... not just out of curiosity, but mostly out of concern. She wanted Kakashi to feel comfortable with her and open up to her; she wanted to be his shoulder to cry on. She realized then that Kakashi didn't really have anybody to fulfill that role... so she was going to try her best to be there for him. And there was no way in hell she was going to quit until she achieved that.

* * *

**A/N: More edits. Keep reading/re-reading! There is plenty more to come! Not too much Kakashi in this chapter, but there is definitely more in the next!**

**As always, please review!**


	4. Metamorphosis

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 4: Metamorphosis**_

Haruno Sakura really needed a change from all the crappy fake tea sold at corner stores. Not only that, but she _really_ needed to relieve the stubborn hangover lingering in her head that would just not go away.

So the solution to her problem…? Naturally, spend the entire morning alone at a tea house, drinking aromatic tea while sulking over how much of an idiot she figured herself to be.

How on earth was she going to get through to Kakashi? The more she thought about it, the more she doubted her abilities in doing so. Seriously… the only times she ever actually saw the man was during the odd mission they got assigned together. She would attempt to arrange a training session, but he would probably reject her request, saying something along the lines of him not having anything left to teach her. Lies! He was the Copy Ninja, for crying out loud.

Sakura took a huge sip of her tea that practically burnt her tongue, and rested her jaw on her propped up palm.

Another alternative would be to _literally_ stalk him, but Sakura didn't quite like that idea since she considered it to be an invasion of privacy; and with Kakashi being so stealthy and all… he would probably just notice instantly, anyways, and then proceed to avoid her.

Placing and leaving the empty tea cup on the table top after gulping the remaining drink down, Sakura got up from her seat and left the tea house.

Strolling down the street in the direction of the hospital for her morning shift, Sakura still could not get the Kakashi crisis out of her mind.

Maybe she could try convincing one of Kakashi's closest friends to get him really drunk for her, and then she 'unexpectedly' shows up and starts the conversation with Kakashi? Surely, that could work? Well, as long as Kakashi is even talking to any of his friends… Sakura could understand why he wouldn't talk to herself, but she assumed it would be a different case for his closest friends.

Looking up from the pebble-stone road, Sakura glanced around at all the villagers to seek out any Jounin remotely acquainted with Kakashi. To much surprise and glee, Sakura managed to spot one of Kakashi's probably _closest_ friends heading right her way – Asuma. She could not have gotten any luckier!

As Asuma's figure got closer, Sakura noticed that he looked pretty bandaged up – he must have just been out in the Battlefield! Oh, lucky day!

"Hey, Asuma-sensei!" Sakura greeted him cheerfully. She could barely control herself… the cards were completely in her favor.

"Oh - Hello, Sakura." He replied in that scruffy, deep voice.

"How are you doing? Your physical condition looks like it could use some help…" Sakura sounded concerned, not wanting to rush the poor fellow.

"Well, yeah… It's pretty rough out there, ya know? Not too bad, though… I'm very lucky… compared to some…" His voice sounded rather distant as if looking back on unfortunate memories. Sakura knew exactly what he was talking about.

"I understand." She nodded in acknowledgment, and then cleared her throat before finally leading them into the topic she was anxiously waiting to discuss, "You know, uh… Kakashi-sensei…" Her eyes flickered up very quickly at Asuma to see his reaction, before instantly averting them back to the ground and continuing, "He… Well, it was really horrible what happened… don't you think?"

Asuma sighed shakily, "Yeah… it really was." He gulped. "Well, you know, I better get going. I'm on a bit of a tight schedule here…" Asuma said, suddenly very intent on leaving.

Sakura's eyebrows creased in slight annoyance and confusion. She hadn't gotten anywhere yet! He couldn't leave!

"Wait, don't leave yet! I really need to talk to someone about this… you see, Kakashi isn't… well… he won't talk to me, even though I really want to try and help him! This curse thing he has… I'm really worried about it, and I don't think he should be resisting it and taking it so carelessly…" Sakura rambled, true concern embedded in her voice. "And that's why I am so glad I managed to run into you this morning… because you're so close to him and I figured you'd be able to help me…"

Asuma frowned shamefully at her. "Sakura…" He was at a loss for words. "I… look, I'm really sorry to tell you this, but… Kakashi won't talk to me. He hasn't since the incident, and I can't even name off anyone who he _has_ talked to. To tell you the truth, _you_ would probably have a better chance at talking to him than I would. You see… something… _happened_ out there between us, and… well, it's quite terrible actually…" His eyes shifted away, looking even more ashamed.

Sakura's mind immediately suggested a thought of what happened between them, but before she let anything out she had a flashback of her and Tsunade in the medical room yesterday and her instant misreading of the situation Tsunade mentioned.

"… What happened?" Sakura questioned, deciding to stick to curiosity rather than forming her own conclusions.

Asuma tensed up after hearing that question, clearly expecting it but not wishing for it.

"It's not necessary for you to know that… you may find out eventually, but now isn't the time. I'm sorry." And with that, Asuma walked straight past Sakura and continued on his way. Sakura's eyes followed his body and stared blankly at his receding back. She couldn't say she was all that surprised, but rather disappointed.

Turning back around, Sakura continued gloomily on her journey to the hospital.

So, she _was_ a bit bummed that she was unable to squeeze any information out of Asuma, but, when she pondered over it, he did seem pretty reluctant to reveal too much to her, so perhaps it was best she didn't push it. But since she _did_ discover that Kakashi wasn't speaking to any of his friends, either, she would have to think up a new plan of action.

All of that was put aside, though, as she spotted a particular blonde standing idly outside the hospital's front entrance.

"Hey, you! Back so soon?" She called out.

"Ha ha, yup…" The boy responded, giving his nose a quick wipe with the back of his hand, almost arrogantly. "Way too easy of a mission for me… But! I guess that just proves I'm a _real _ninja!" He bragged; a wide smirk stretched across his face. "Anyways…" he shook his head free of the self-gratification, and put on a more serious look. "You and I have been requested to meet Tsunade up at the Missionary immediately."

Sakura's eyes widened. "What? Right _now_? But—But I have to go to wo—"

Naruto shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Tsunade wants us both. Right now. She just told me to come get you."

The kunoichi raised a hand to cover the deflated expression on her face. "Aw, jeez… and I just came from that direction." With a sigh, Sakura had no choice but to accept, "Alright, let's go, then."

Naruto nodded in agreement, and, together, they both took off in the direction of the Missionary.

* * *

"So then he came towards my clone that he thought was the real me, spinning his katanas around like nobody's business, and just when he struck, the exploding tag I placed on my clone went off and then the real me popped ou—

—… Sakura-chan? … Why have you stopped?"

Naruto stopped in his tracks when he realized his female companion was no longer alongside him in step, and turned to look at said girl who appeared as frozen as a popsicle. Not only that, but her gaze also seemed to be dead-set on something far ahead of her. Naruto then averted his gaze back around to associate with what had caused her to stop so suddenly, and saw none other than the two other members of their old team, standing idly as if they were waiting for something, or someone.

Looking back at Sakura with a quirked up eyebrow, Naruto questioned her strange mannerisms. "Uhh… Sakura, it's just Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke-asshole. Is there something wrong?"

Snapping out of it, Sakura shook her head lightly and glanced back and forth, briskly, between Naruto and the other two members. "Um, no… no, there's nothing wrong. But, um… why is he—uh, _they _here?"

Naruto continued staring at her peculiarly, becoming more and more skeptical by the minute. "Because… we're being assigned to a mission with them? I thought you'd be _excited_ about this… going on a mission with just us four again."

"Oh, no, I- I am excited! I'm just… surprised." Sakura admitted, her gaze never straying from the two awaiting them.

Naruto still had the feeling something was up, but decided it was best to let it go. "Alright! That's great, then!" He exclaimed, giving her a big grin before turning around and taking off in a jog towards his two other teammates.

Sakura remained still in her position for a few hesitant seconds before she, too, took off towards all three of them, only her pace was that of a mere walk. Every step she took closer towards them, her heart beat just a little faster, until at last she reached their proximity.

"Uh—Um…" Sakura mumbled, trying to balance out her stare between the two by looking back and forth between them, but in reality her gaze lingered the most on Kakashi.

"Hello, Sakura." Kakashi spoke up in his casual voice and manner, as if nothing bad had ever overcome him. He then reached out a hand and ruffled it through Sakura's hair as he'd done many years ago.

Sakura just stood there like a rock, staring absolutely bewilderingly up at him. She just could not believe what she was seeing.

"It's about time you two got here." Kakashi complained with a sigh, faking impatience.

"Hah! As if you're one to talk!" Naruto shouted at him, thrusting his finger up at his sensei.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Kakashi shrugged, turning his palms upwards. "Anyway, I think we ought to go in and receive our mission now, don't you?" He suggested, turning around to proceed into the building.

Naruto followed in with him, enthusiastically; Sasuke, apathetically; and, Sakura, after hesitating for a moment once again, like a zombie.

Upon reaching the door leading to the mission-giving/receiving room and knocking against it, Tsunade's booming voice sounded from behind it with a great 'Come in!', and, in response to that greeting, the four ninja entered.

"Oh, right… you four. Hmm… let's see… aha! Here we go. Alright, there's a small village just south of here, called Tamaki village. They're in need of some special medicinal herbs grown exclusively here in Konoha, and so it is you four's job to transport these herbs safely." Tsunade informed them, quite simply, as she took out a handkerchief tied up as a little sack, which no doubt held the contents of the medicinal herbs within it.

"But—Tsunade-sama… isn't that task a bit too easy to be sending all _four_ of us?" Sakura suddenly spoke up, having finally regained her sense and voice.

In response to that particular query, Tsunade cleared her throat unusually loudly, and clapped her hand against the desk. "_No, _Sakura, this mission _will_ require all four of you. You see, these medicinal herbs aren't just any medicinal herbs… they are _special_. Haven't I taught you that quality always comes before quantity? Good God… _think, _girl, before you ask me these stupid questions!" Tsunade yelled angrily, slapping her hand yet again against the desk.

"Now, go! I have several other things to attend to and you're wasting my time." Tsunade pleaded, shooing them away with a sweep of her hand.

Obediently, the four left the building after Kakashi took possession of the medicinal herbs sack, and met back up in the area outside.

"I hope neither of you have any unfinished business left to attend to before we go. I'd like to get this over with and out of the way as quickly as we possibly can." Kakashi requested, not to be rude, but rather because it was in his usual nature not to enjoy long missions or spend valuable time waiting.

All three of them shook their heads, indicating that they could go ahead and begin the mission immediately.

"Ah, that's good." Kakashi said with a relief. "Shall we, then?"

And the four took off out of the village, in the onset of their mission.

* * *

The journey towards Tamaki village had been going pretty smoothly so far. The only exception was Sasuke and Naruto's constant bickering up front, but that was as typical as ever; so by now it somewhat constituted as smooth. Kakashi and Sakura walked alongside each other (alongside really meaning at a parallel distance of ten feet) with a bit of an awkward silence aloft in-between.

All the while, the only thoughts running constantly through Sakura's mind was of Kakashi. More or less, a contemplation over whether she should try and start a conversation with him and slowly lead into discussing his situation, or whether it was best just to keep quiet.

It took her forty minutes into the journey to finally come up with a decision, and she chose the former.

Cautiously inching closer to Kakashi to at least three feet, Sakura waited for a little moment before she actually said anything.

"So, um… Kakashi-sensei. How are you… feeling?" She bravely asked; her voice slightly fainter than usual.

"I'm doing well, Sakura, thank you." He smiled, even though Sakura couldn't really tell.

"Oh, that's good… um… nice weather, eh?"

"Very."

Sakura nodded. "Right…"

She was at a loss of what else to say to continue the conversation smoothly. There were so many questions concerning his situation that she wished to bombard him with, but knew it was most certainly not the time or place. "So, uh… what will you be doing later on?" It was a pathetic question, but she needed to locate some sort of opening.

"Probably just do some reading… maybe go out and train a bit. Who knows?"

"I see…" No, she didn't. She wanted fucking answers, and she wanted them NOW. "You know; if I can be completely honest with you on something… I'm really quite surprised that you've accepted to come on this mission. I would have thought you'd have wanted a break from… everything. Just to get away from people for a bit… you know?" For really only the first time since they left the gates, Sakura looked up at Kakashi.

"Hmm, is that so? Well, who's to say going out on missions _isn't_ my way of 'getting away from everything'?" And he, too, for the first time, glanced down at the pink-haired girl.

Intimidated by his dark gaze, Sakura immediately broke their mutual stare to set it upon the dirt road in front, instead. "I suppose that's a possibility." She agreed, still upset about not really getting anywhere.

An entire full minute then passed by in silence, and Sakura was really beginning to reach her limit.

"Kakashi-sensei."

"Yes, Sakura?"

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what? Didn't you just ask—"

"No!" Sakura yelled just above a whisper, not wanting to risk alarming Sasuke and Naruto. "That's not what I mean! Why are you pretending like nothing has happened?!" Again, she courageously faced his gaze.

"Sakura…" He returned the stare, but was then also the first to break it. "Listen—"

The next moment flashed by so fast, Sakura hardly had time to process. Suddenly three shuriken were sent flying towards Sakura out of nowhere, and would have struck her in an instant had it not been for Kakashi's arm that stuck out to absorb the attack instead.

"Ugh…" Kakashi groaned out in pain, as the spikes of the shuriken dug deeply into his flesh. Quickly, he tore out the weapons and tossed them to the ground in one quick movement, a few streams of crimson blood trailing across in their wake.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura cried, quickly grabbing a hold of his arm to examine the wounds. But as quickly as she had done so, the quicker he snapped his arm roughly back out of her grasp. "No! Don't worry about me! Focus on the enemies!" he instructed.

His sudden harshness came out of nowhere, but from her experience she nodded obediently to his instructions, and turned to face the area around her where three rogue ninja popped out from behind the bushes.

"Ha ha! Piece of cake!" Naruto yelled excitedly as he, like usual, was the first to take initiative and charged towards the closest enemy.

Sasuke merely sighed indifferently and unsheathed his katana, as one of the enemy ninja charged toward him.

"Don't worry, Sensei! You stay put, I'll take care of this!" Sakura called out to Kakashi, as she sprinted toward the free enemy with her kunai in hand.

Just as she leaped in o the air and was about to lay a kick, Kakashi sped by underneath, tackling the ninja out of the way to claim the fight for himself.

Sakura landed on the ground with an aggravated 'humph' as she turned to watch Kakashi take on the ninja _she_ already declared that she was going to fight.

'_Why, that ungrateful asshole…' _Sakura thought to herself as she watched Kakashi and _her _enemy at each others throats.

Unsurprisingly, the matches ended in no longer than five minutes, and each of the three enemies lay in prostrate and bloody positions on the ground. Kakashi, Sasuke, and Naruto, on the other hand, looked barely touched; except for Kakashi's arm, which Sakura all of a sudden remembered, rushing immediately to his side to take his arm back into her grasp with a bit more roughness than she had before.

"Ow, you may want to be careful with that…" Kakashi teased half-heartedly.

"Don't give me that bullshit!" Sakura yelled, louder than necessary.

Both Sasuke and Naruto exchanged glances as they watched Sakura's sudden violent change in behaviour.

"… Is something the matter?" Kakashi questioned the medic.

"Oh, what do _you_ think, Mr. I'm-going-to-steal-Sakura's-enemy-even-though-she-clearly-claimed-him-first!?" Because of her anger, she didn't even realize that she was channeling her healing chakra more strongly into Kakashi's wounds than usual – causing him to wince because of the pressure.

"Sakura… you're our only medic. We can't afford to take unnecessary risks."

"Oh, screw you! You defeated those guys in five fucking minutes! You're a real asshole if you think I wouldn't have been able to handle that!" She pressed even harder.

"Ow, Sakura, that hurts…"

Realizing her nescient mistake, Sakura slightly reduced her grip on his arm, and after a short time she finished up with the healing.

"You know, Sakura, he's right…" Sasuke spoke up, for the first time, catching Sakura's immediate attention. "He didn't do that to disgrace you. If you think long-term, to the possibility of more encounters, the upcoming levels may advance and there may be more of a challenge for us. It's best to keep the medic preserved as long as possible, since they are most important in maintaining the team."

Even with Sasuke agreeing with him, Sakura still couldn't bring herself to believe in his justification. Yes, she was the medic, but Kakashi was the one with the goddamned curse that could kill him at any minute. Surely the ratio had to favor her in that situation. Then again, neither Sasuke or Naruto were aware of Kakashi's condition, so under that circumstance Sasuke's agreement was somewhat justified. The only blame was on Kakashi.

"That's alright." Kakashi gentle voice alleviated, averting Sakura's attention to himself. "Sakura's been through a lot lately, it's understandable she's a little disheveled at the moment. Just… make sure to keep on guard." He reminded her with a smile, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder before turning back to the running trail ahead. "Let's continue on, then." He insisted, receiving a nod from Sasuke and Naruto, as they headed out. Sakura just glared.

* * *

It may not have been obvious to Sasuke or Naruto, since they returned to their constant brawl up front, but it was most evident to Sakura. Kakashi was struggling along the rest of their journey, ever since the encounter with the three enemy ninja.

He'd broken out into a slight sweat (it wasn't the heat, because there was none), and from the corner of her eye, Sakura was positive she could see his body shaking, even if it was faint. She hoped they didn't have much longer to go… if they did, then she may consider requesting to turn back.

"Um… how much longer until we get there?" Sakura questioned, quietly.

"About another three hours. Why?" Kakashi replied.

"I was just… wondering." She paused for a short moment, and then asked, "Are you okay, Sensei?"

"Peachy."

"Are you sure? Because… don't take this into offense, but you look like you're struggling a bit." At that point, Sakura finally dared to actually face him, and she was right. His body was definitely shaking.

"That happens when you get old."

"Sensei…" She drawled, glaring at him with the most skeptical look in her eyes.

"Sakura, stop." Kakashi ordered abruptly, having suddenly turned dead serious, as his hand quickly extended out in front of Sakura to prevent her from walking any further.

Sakura stopped accordingly, and shot Kakashi a baffled look, wondering what she had said to make him suddenly turn so serious.

Only, she soon realized it wasn't her who was the cause of his sudden behavior; it was the enemy ninja she suddenly sensed hiding behind the trees and bushes. She had been so preoccupied with her thoughts about her sensei that she didn't even notice.

Sasuke and Naruto appeared to have sensed them too, because Sasuke had his hand clasped on his katana, and Naruto had his kunai held up, ready.

Quickly, Sakura took out her own kunai and glanced briskly around in all directions, anticipating a direct attack any second.

When the attack didn't come, Sakura began to wonder if it was just a trap.

Before she had the chance to say anything, she suddenly felt something wrap quickly around her waist, and she was transferred hastily out of the way as huge explosions went off in a circular formation around the very area they previously stood.

She crashed hard into the ground, and was sent rolling before she finally came to a full stop on her stomach.

The moment she managed to open her eyes, the very first thing she saw was Kakashi's figure lying a few feet away from her; but that image quickly disappeared as something clutched her hair and roughly yanked her up to full height.

Sakura screamed out in agony, as the enemy looked her in the face and chuckled. "My, my, yer a pretty one, aren't yeh?" He spoke to her in a gruff voice, just about to lay his hand on her, when suddenly something hard and fast struck him, about to send her flying along with him had it not been for the savior's hand grabbing a hold of hers' and pulling her safely into him.

Sakura looked up, stricken and almost teary-eyed, into Kakashi's face.

"Ka—"

"—Be more careful, Sakura." He told her strictly, pushing her away, and then turning away to finish off the ninja who had harmed Sakura.

Sasuke and Naruto were occupied with an enemy each, while two free enemies still remained and headed straight for Sakura's direction.

Thinking fast, Sakura charged up the chakra in her legs to give her the necessary strength boost she often used to her advantage, and took off in a sprint towards the approaching ninja. One of them sprinted behind her in a flash and aimed for her back, but she quickly dodged by leaping into the air, and then tossing a kunai, attached with an exploding tag, down at both ninja - which resulted in a large boom and fiery flash. One of the ninja managed to escape it, but the other was blown away, slightly injured, but not yet unconscious. Sakura sped towards the injured ninja and, catching him off-guard, increased the chakra flow in her foot once again and kicked him up at least twelve feet into the air, and, leaping above him, charged up the strength in her fist and struck down as hard as she could, with a direct punch to his face, sending him diving right down into the ground.

Meanwhile, once Kakashi had finished with the first ninja, Sakura's second one had moved onto him and they were currently battling.

Sakura glanced over at Sasuke and Naruto's battles, and noticed that one of their enemies was already down, and they were both teamed up against the remaining one.

Averting her gaze back to Kakashi, Sakura's eyes suddenly shot wide open at the new sight of him crouched down and in apparently a lot of pain, as the enemy he had been fighting with was just a moment away from finalizing their battle with his last strike.

"KAKASHI!!" Sakura screamed as she instantly dashed over to the two, and, without any sensibility in her actions, tackled the enemy right down to the ground. From her position on top of the enemy ninja on the ground, she cranked her arm back and, charging it with as much strength as she could, sent her fist pounding into the back of the enemy's head. Even though it had been enough to knock him out, it wasn't enough for Sakura. She winded her arm back once again and sent her fist flying right back down into the same spot. And then she did it again, and then again, until she was brutally pounding the back of the guy's head to the point of completely flattening it.

When she finally deemed herself done, her breathing was heavy, and, slowly, she crawled her way off the pancake-head enemy, towards her unconscious Sensei.

"Ka-Kakashi-sensei…" Sakura muttered as she rolled him over onto his back, and looked down at his comatose features. She almost wanted to cry… almost. He was breathing and his heart was still beating, so she at least knew he was still alive. But knowing the truth of his 'secret' condition, she knew better than to overlook anything.

"S-Sasuke… Naruto…" Sakura called out, just as they were finishing their battle. Wiping the blood from their hands, they both looked over and realization struck them. Immediately, they rushed over to Sakura's side.

"We need to go back…" Sakura told them, looking up at them both with eyes about to tear any moment, as she held Kakashi's head in her lap.

"… Are you sure? He just seems to be unconscious." Sasuke analyzed as he kneeled down to examine Kakashi. "Naruto and I can just take turns carryi—"

"No!" Sakura yelled. "We _need_ to go back…" She stared directly into Sasuke's face, who, in return, searched hers'. It didn't take him long to acknowledge the seriousness her face expressed, so, taking a deep breath, Sasuke nodded. "Fine. Let's go, then." Grabbing Kakashi by the underarms, and lifting him up, Sasuke soon managed to get the man onto his back with only a slight struggle.

More than grateful for Sasuke's understanding, Sakura placed an appreciative hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Sasuke." She told him; a certainty of true meaning in her voice.

Sasuke gave her a quick glance over, and then averted back to the trail they already covered. "Whatever. Let's just go." He said in a hurry, partly due to Kakashi's weight.

Sakura and Naruto both smiled at him, as the three of them began heading back in the direction they came.

* * *

"You think he'll be okay?"

"He'll be fine."

"What if he isn't?"

"He will be."

"… Ten bucks says he won't."

"Will you just shut up?" Sasuke growled, sending Naruto a glare that meant trouble if he said a word more.

"Fine." Naruto said with a 'hmph' as he arrogantly stuck his chin out.

* * *

"See, Sakura? This is _exactly_ what I'm talking about. _This_ is why I want to keep him restrained here, under constant surveillance. If you had returned him to me any later, he would have died!" Tsunade exclaimed to her young subordinate, as, together, they worked on removing the toxins from Kakashi's body.

"Well, at least we now know one symptom. He's become over-sensitive to bacteria, so if he receives even the slightest scratch, there is a ninety percent chance he'll get infected." Sakura explained.

"Yes, precisely. And there is absolutely _no _way a ninja can go out in the field without getting a scratch."

Sakura nodded, finalizing her treatment, and dropping her hands down to her sides to let them rest.

For the remaining time, she couldn't help but just stand, staring at the unconscious figure of her ex-Sensei. He looked so much more peaceful when he slept. She wasn't at all used to his vulnerable state; he was always the strongest one who led the way. At times like these, she couldn't help but feel awkward. The tables have turned, and it was something she was just not used to.

"… Sakura?"

Sakura snapped back into reality; only, this time, a pair of jaded mismatched eyes stared back at her.

"Kakashi-sensei! Are you alright?" She asked, bending over slightly to place a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, good! It's about time you've awoken!" Tsunade boomed, giving Kakashi a nice big slap on the chest before striding out of the room into the waiting room to fetch Sasuke and Naruto.

"Peachy…" Kakashi rasp voice muttered, once he and Sakura were left alone, in response to her question before the rude interruption.

Sakura smiled heartily as she, without thinking, interlaced Kakashi's hand with her own and hugged it to herself. "I'm so glad."

Kakashi cleared his throat uncomfortably as he politely took his hand back.

The door was then heard as it slammed open, and Naruto immediately rushed in and over to Kakashi's bedside.

"Kakashi-sensei! You're alright! Ha ha, that's great! You had me worried there for a second! Ha ha, you old man! Can't even handle a simple little fight anymore, can ya?!" Naruto blurted ecstatically while he patted Kakashi's shoulder with great enthusiasm.

Sasuke entered the room but merely stood and silently acknowledged Kakashi's well-being.

"Alright, alright…" Tsunade called out, "I let you say your heartfelt words, now get out of here! Your Sensei needs his rest." She ordered, physically having to shoo Naruto out of the room, while Sasuke just left quietly.

Sakura took one last long glance down at Kakashi, before turning around and nearly bumping straight into Tsunade.

"And where do you think _you're _going?!" Tsunade hollered over her.

"Um… I… didn't you want us to lea—"

"No, no. You're staying here to make sure he behaves and doesn't escape. I can't do it, because I still have plenty of work to do." Tsunade told her, not giving her much choice in the matter.

"Alright, that's fine." She agreed. Even if she had the choice, she would probably decide to stay, anyway. She was truly concerned and, after all, she finally found the chance where she could try and actually talk to him.

"Good, then. I'll be back later to check up on you." Tsunade informed as she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

Turning back to face Kakashi, Sakura smile turned upside-down at the suddenly hard look her gave her.

"You don't have to stay, if you don't want to." He mentioned, insisting rather than informing.

"I want to." Sakura told him, returning the hard stare he gave her.

Kakashi broke the mutual stare yet again and instead settled upon the ceiling.

There was momentary silence, before Sakura took in a deep breath and decided bravely to speak up. "So… Tsunade says you ought to remain in the hospital from now on." She informed him.

When she didn't receive a reply over a little while, she just continued. "I hope you don't try to run away again. You honestly scared me out there – especially considering my awareness of your condition."

She could have sworn she saw a little twitch in his eye, but still no reply. "When I got back… Tsunade told me that if I had arrived any later, you would have died."

… Another pause.

"I think that scared me even more, knowing that it was a possibility, had I not known about you."

She waited a little longer this time for his reply, but still yet he remained completely mute.

A part of her was able to understand. Most of her wanted to punch him in the head. But, alas, with a sigh of defeat, this time was an exception to her persistence. It was not the last.

"Would you like some tea?"

"Yes, please."

* * *

**A/N: Luckily I didn't have to edit too much on this one. I kept the fight scenes how they were because I sucked then at writing them, and I still suck at writing them, so nothing would have changed. XD Anyway, I'm excited, nearly done with the editing! There aren't too many edits in the next chapter either so then I can finally re-upload these all. Yaay.**

**Please review! Just not on how terrible I write fight scenes. I'm already aware of that. The only reason I write them is because I have no choice.**


	5. Redemption

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 5: Redemption**_

And so they both sat there together, drinking their tea pleasantly in silence. Kakashi, at least, seemed to be pleased with the silence between them, whereas Sakura tended more towards anxiety. Her thoughts roamed of things she wanted to say and question, but nothing would actually dare come out. It really bugged her to be so conservative, especially in such a situation as this. Then again, her sensei was probably the most intimidating man alive that she knew.

After a while, she decided it was just about time that she tried again. She was considerate enough to sit at the desk, facing away from him while he drank (to keep the appearance of his face remaining, in his favor, a secret), so he at least owed her that.

"So, Kakashi-sensei…" she cleared her throat and looked up at the blank wall in front of her, "What are your thoughts this very moment?" She asked, starting with a very open question that may lead her into something.

"What my future is, based on the remains of my tea at the bottom of my cup." He answered with no hesitation.

With utter disbelief, Sakura spun right around to face him, and alas there he was holding the tea-cup inches from his face, his eyes staring engrossingly into it.

In seeing that image, Sakura's face dropped, and her eyebrow twitched annoyingly. She could have sworn this guy had bi-polar; one minute he was in 'hate-the-world' mode, and the next he was in 'I-love-rainbows' mode. She just couldn't quite figure it out. It's one of the things that made him so complex, which, in Sakura's view, was so unbelievably annoying.

With a huff, Sakura abruptly stood to her feet. "Fine. If you want to be like that, then, just… fine." She surrendered, collecting her empty tea cup in her hands, a couple of medicine bottles, and a few sheets of paper, and turning back toward him to give him one final stern look before storming straight toward the door. Just as she was fumbling in aggravation for the door handle, though, the voice she had been waiting so long to hear stopped her. "Sakura." It was that tone of voice of his that assured her he was finally ready to take her seriously.

Sakura stopped what she was doing and after hesitating momentarily to prepare herself, she slowly turned back around to face him, her back pressed cowardly against the door. In a way, she almost regretted turning back around, because the sincere look he gave her from across the room sent unwelcoming shivers down her spine. The stare was so direct and so deep, she felt like it was drowning her. At that very instant it was almost as if all the pain he was feeling inside was channeling straight into her through their locked gaze. The immediate change in atmosphere suddenly made her feel feeble; however, she remained strong and, in no time at all, was once again at the side of Kakashi's bed, ready to listen.

Kakashi sighed deeply and broke their gaze for a very quick moment to collect himself. But it was not long before his eyes were locked back on Sakura's as he began to speak. "I apologize that I haven't been myself lately. I realize that I've acted very cold towards you ever since my return and, for that, I am dreadfully sorry. I should actually probably be thanking you for everything you've done and everything you're still trying to do. I'm surprised that you're even still by my side this very moment. It's a whole lot more than I know I deserve, so, really, I—"

"--Oh, shut up." Sakura interrupted. The command seemed to work, though, as he stopped in the middle of his speech to give her the most puzzling wide-eyed stare. "You deserve WAY more than anything I could ever give! You have given up so much for me in the past, that everything I'm doing now is hardly sufficient. It should be _me _apologizing for not being capable of helping you to a larger extent." She blurted, completely oblivious to her disregard for his speech, when she had inwardly sworn to be considerate.

Kakashi didn't even get the chance to say anything further, as Sakura quickly realized her mistake. Slapping her palm over her face in embarrassment, she muffled, "Sorry... I shouldn't have interrupted you." Letting her hand fall limply back into her lap, she sighed, glancing shamefully back up at him with her face completely flushed. "It's just that... you have no idea how worried you've made me, and my only wish was for you to open up to me. I hate it when you just ignore me."

"Sorry." Kakashi said softly, head hung. "I guess... for once, I allowed my impulses to get the better of me. And that is really what I'm trying to apologize for. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know." Sakura replied, smiling lightly at him. "I understand, and I forgive you. Just know... there's better ways to relieve your pain than to ignore everyone. I just want you to know that I'm always here for you, and you're welcome to come to me any time you're down about something."

Kakashi shifted awkwardly. He wasn't used to this kind of conversation with someone else, and Sakura picked up on that instantly. The poor man was lonely. So, softly, she put a comforting hand on his shoulder. He seemed to tense up from this, but Sakura ignored it.

"What happened out there, anyway, that made you so upset? I heard about Yamato..."

As soon as Sakura mentioned that, she wasn't sure if she wished she could take it back. At the mentioning of Yamato's name, Kakashi's breathing came to a halt and when Sakura looked up at his down-set eyes, she could see that he was suddenly very serious again. The red drained from her face as she watched him, a feeling of sadness slowly creeping back up.

There was a silent pause between them before Kakashi spoke again. "Well… Yamato's death was certainly one thing that had me most upset. But then again, it was something to be expected after we found out about the curse. Even though the way he died was… different, it shouldn't have really mattered, since it was practically inevitable anyway." He stopped for a moment, taking another small pause, while Sakura could have sworn she heard a very small crack in his voice between his last few words; however, she remained silent, watching him and feeling the pain seep through even deeper as he continued. "I was lucky. It could have been me in his stead. Or any of the other several who had died. There was so many of them… and since we didn't understand what was going on, there was nothing we could do." Another pause. Their eye contact had been broken for a while now, as Kakashi merely stared at the sheets covering his lap, his voice slowly receding as he went on. "I call myself lucky… but then I seriously think everything through, and truly wonder if living through all this pain and suffering is really in fact lucky at all."

Sakura understood exactly what he was getting at and was not liking it one bit. "Kakashi… please, don't think like that. It's not over yet, we still have time to fix this. I have a general understanding of your curse's capabilities, and the thought alone scares me… but I have faith that we'll find a solution, and then everything will be alright."

But Kakashi just shook his head, "No, Sakura… I'm not talking about the disease. When looking back at all I've been through… it's honestly very difficult to see life in a better light than death. I live through every single day of my life in pain and suffering from my losses. _That _is what drives me crazy; not this fucking... curse." Finally, his eyes met back up with hers again, and he was suddenly able to see a deeper concern embedded into her captivating emerald irises. It softened him just a little.

Sakura wasn't able to reply, as she was using up all her inner strength to prevent tears from falling. Talking just made it all the more difficult. But then again, hearing his voice…

"You know… one of these days even you, too, will probably have experiences like I've had. I wish with all my heart that I could prevent that, but I can't. It's just apart of our lifestyle… and although—" Kakashi had been oblivious to the fact that Sakura was on the verge of tears and that his voice only made her state worse, so he was caught completely off guard when she suddenly flung herself forward and wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and started sobbing into his shoulder.

Kakashi was so surprised and unprepared that he had absolutely no idea how to react. After taking a quick moment to take in what just happened, he settled with putting his hand on her back and patting it lightly while he silently waited for her to finish.

After several seconds passed, Sakura eventually did remove herself from him, feeling slightly awkward after her impulsive embrace. Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, she shyly looked back up at her ex-sensei, only to meet the face of someone very surprised and confused. She suddenly felt self-conscious and embarrassed and immediately averted her eyes back down to her lap. "Sorry about that…" she apologized, "I guess… I'm just sort of able to understand. Well… not from experience, but the way you describe it… sort of makes me able feel your pain."

Still staring at her lap, Sakura was surprised when she suddenly felt Kakashi's warm and comforting hand lay on her shoulder. She looked up at him then, and saw him looking back at her with very concerning eyes. "Sakura… I would never ever want to inflict my pain onto you. I am more than grateful for your care, but when you say that my pain is affecting you… that just makes me feel awful."

Sakura continued to stare at him, suddenly feeling a lot better thanks to his consideration. But then she also felt silly for getting so emotional, especially when she had been wanting to talk to him about the subject for a while. Now he would probably stop talking, and then she would go back to working, and then everything she had been preparing for would have been completely wasted. But before she even had the chance to say anything more, there was a sudden knock at the door that made her jump and snap her head around to glare at the intruder who ruined their moment.

As soon as she recognized the intruder to be Sai, her features instantly softened and she jumped to her feet off the bed--conspicuously reacting as if she was not just caught red-handed at something.

"Oh—I'm sorry, I didn't realize I'd be interrupting anything. I can come back later if you two are busy." He apologized, his face flushing a little.

But just as he started closing the door, Sakura called out to him. "No, Sai, it's okay. What is it you wanted?"

Sai paused to slide the door back open. "Um… Tsunade just asked me to come tell you that she wanted to speak with you as soon as possible."

Sakura took in a deep breath, a little disappointed. "Oh. Well… alright, then." Turning back around to face Kakashi, she was just about to open her mouth to speak when she caught a very strange look in his eyes. But the look lasted merely half a second before instantly turning into a smile.

"It's alright, Sakura, I understand. Go ahead and see what she wants." He said before she even had the chance to say anything. But Sakura hesitated for a moment, feeling slightly awkward about something she didn't even know. Not wanting to waste time just standing around, however, Sakura ignored her itch and nodded. "Right, I'll be back in just a bit." She assured him before turning back around and exiting the room, sliding the door shut as she left.

* * *

Tsunade was waiting for Sakura in her office, sitting in her big blue chair as usual; however, faced backwards toward the large open window. When she heard Sakura knock and enter, she called her to her desk, which Sakura obeyed.

"You wanted to speak with me, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura questioned.

"Yes." Tsunade replied. Her voice sounded deep and somewhat somber; and since Sakura couldn't see her face, she could only assume that Tsunade's news probably wasn't going to be on the good side. Tsunade then sighed, as she continued. "I just thought I should give you a heads up…" She began. "Since we have lost a lot of men out on the battlefield, we are required to send more out in their place." Sakura listened to her words intently, and after hearing this, her heart began thumping faster, worried about what she was going to hear next. "Naruto… and Sasuke… are going to be assigned their mission this afternoon to be sent out to the camps tomorrow."

Sakura gasped and quickly slapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes about to pop out. "Tsunade-sama—you can't! You saw what happened to Kakashi, it could just as easily happen to Naruto and Sasuke, too!" Sakura exclaimed, once again allowing her emotions to take control of her actions.

Tsunade sighed in annoyance and finally turned around to face the young medic. "JUST as easily as every other ninja in this village, Sakura. We cannot afford to make exceptions due to emotional bonds. Naruto and Sasuke are two of our very best ninja… we need to use whatever resources we've got in order to defend our village; you know that!" Tsunade exclaimed back. She didn't want to hurt Sakura, but the truth was the truth.

Sakura bit her bottom lip to hold back any more of her rash thoughts, and after taking a moment to calm herself down just a little, she bowed her head. Not in acceptance, but to hide her face from her sensei, were she to lose control again and start tearing up. "I know…" she whispered understandably. "But…" she persisted, "Can't you at least just send me in one's place?!" she requested, still keeping her head down as she felt her eyes starting to sting.

But Tsunade just shook her head. "No, Sakura. We need you here to help heal all the injured ninja who just returned. You're our best medic, we can't afford to risk losing you—that's common sense, Sakura!"

There was a brief pause between them as Tsunade waited for Sakura's reply. When Sakura said nothing, Tsunade continued. "Sakura… I'm truly sorry. There is no other way." She apologized softly, suddenly feeling bad for maybe being too harsh.

Sakura finally accepted that there was nothing she could do about it. There were so many more complaints and words that she wished to express, but she knew that when Tsunade was dead serious about something, not even a mountain could stand in her way. In order to prevent her sensei from experiencing her weak tears, Sakura quickly said her final words, "… I understand." And with that, she turned around and exited the office as quickly as if it were on fire, shutting the door firmly behind her. Tsunade said nothing more as Sakura left, because she understood that no matter what she said, Sakura would not feel any better about it.

After she shut the door to Tsunade's office, Sakura remained standing just outside it for the slightest moment, her back faced toward the door, holding her breath as long as she possibly could. She could not believe it. First she had her ex-sensei who had been weakened and was potentially on the verge of death. And now her two best friends—the two CLOSEST people in her whole life—were being sent out to the deadly battlefield which had been the cause of said ex-sensei's current state. Before, Sakura had specifically requested that Tsunade leave Naruto and Sasuke away from the camps (despite their contrary desires), so now that they have reached so dire a situation where she has been forced to send them out… Sakura did not know if she could find the hope for them. And that is what tore her apart the most.

Not able to take the pain anymore, Sakura collapsed onto her knees, covering her face with both hands as an overdose of emotions rushed through her that very moment. Tears streamed from her eyes down her cheeks, and cries of worry and pain escaped her mouth and echoed down along the corridor.

Tsunade was able to hear Sakura from inside her office, and shamefully lowered her head to her desk, resting her forehead on the surface as she felt awful that it had come down to this. It was the very last thing she wanted to do, but she had no choice. She was forced to take action, regardless of how painful the consequences.

* * *

It took about thirty minutes before Sakura was able to get back up onto her feet. But when she did, she had been completely drained of tears, and all that was left to show for it was a red and puffy face.

Sakura sniffled and repeatedly kept wiping her nose with the back of her hand as she slowly started making her way back to the room Kakashi was staying in.

It wasn't far away, so when she soon arrived, she noticed that Sai was still standing idle outside the room. Sakura was confused at first, but then she realized that it was a precaution to make sure Kakashi stayed put. She felt slightly relieved after that, but as she approached Sai, she suddenly realized how ugly her face probably looked and felt extremely self-conscious.

"Wow… are you alright, Sakura?" Sai asked out of concern as soon as he noticed her coming and saw her face.

Sakura sighed and tried to hide her face as much as possible by looking down. "Yeah… I'm fine… I just heard some really bad news." She told him truthfully without going into detail. She really didn't not want to talk about it. Well, not with him, for some reason. She would probably talk to Kakashi about it when she entered his room again.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that…" He said. "If you ever want to talk, I'm free." He offered, contrary to her current feelings.

"Thanks, Sai." Sakura said as she placed her hand on the door handle. "Oh, and thanks for remaining here on watch." She also mentioned before opening the door.

"No problem." Sai smiled. "Take care, now. I hope you feel better soon." He said, giving her a small wave before turning away and leaving.

Sakura forced a smile back at him for a moment as he left, and then averted her focus back on Kakashi as she entered the room.

The instant she actually looked towards Kakashi's bed, however, she stopped dead in her tracks and her whole body froze.

He was gone.

"… _How the FUCK is he gone?!" _Sakura shouted inwardly as her heart began to beat at a much faster rate. Now, the feeling rage was added to her mix of emotions. If any more built up, she would probably go insane.

She hopelessly searched the entire small room for him, and with no luck she began freaking out.

Then she thought: The bathroom.

Quickly, she raced out of his room and headed straight toward the nearest bathrooms. When she reached them, she kicked open the men's washroom door, accidentally breaking it off its hinges in her frantic rage. Her bloodshot eyes quickly scanned the entire washroom. There actually happened to be one man occupying the bathroom at the time, whose eyes shot up towards her as she barged in, his expression completely terrified. Normally Sakura would have been embarrassed, but she was in such an emotional rage that she didn't really care. As soon as she realized Kakashi wasn't in there, she sprinted away again.

She then continued to run around the main areas of the hospital, searching every room, corridor, and bathroom that she came across. With still no luck after several minutes, she ran to Tsunade's office.

"Kakashi's missing!" Sakura shouted, barging in without a thought.

"What?!" Tsunade exclaimed, rising instantly to her feet while accidentally knocking over her sake bottle on her desk in the process.

"After I left your office, I headed straight back to his room, only to find it empty! And for the last while I've been running around the hospital frantically in search for him!" Sakura explained, her breathing extremely heavy.

Tsunade was appalled, her face heating right up. "That can't be! I told Sai to watch the room and make sure he didn't leave!"

"Sai was still there when I arrived…" Sakura mentioned, not wanting him to get in trouble, "But for some reason Kakashi still seemed to have managed to escape."

There was then a moment's hesitation before Tsunade suddenly let out a loud grunt and bashed her desk with her fist. "Unbelievable!" She yelled, throwing her hands into the air. "Where the hell could he possibly have to go?! What the hell is so _important_ enough to make him want to escape?! Does he _seriously_ want to die?!"

At that last comment, Sakura stiffened as she recalled her talk with Kakashi earlier. "I don't know…" she said, suddenly feeling very useless. But then she thought about where he could have possibly gone, and only one place really came to mind: The memorial stone. Looking up at her furious sensei, Sakura spoke. "I think… I may know where he went." She said. "I'll go look now." And with that she immediately turned back around to leave Tsunade's office once again.

But just before she left, Tsunade called out to her. "Sakura." And she turned slightly to glance over her shoulder at her teacher. "If you do eventually find him… there may have to be some convincing involved." She warned. Sakura wasn't quite sure what she was talking about but she assumed it would all make sense in due time. At that moment, she just wanted to find her ex-sensei and give him hell for leaving. So she left the building and headed toward the training grounds.

* * *

When Sakura finally made it to the memorial stone, she was more than surprised to _not _see him there.

She sighed out of exhaustion and rested against the large stone, completely out of ideas of where he could be. This was really the only place she could _ever _find him, so now that she knew it was no longer the only option, she was at a complete loss.

After a while of just standing there to catch her breath, her gaze gradually lowered where she found herself glancing down at all the names engraved into the stone. Removing herself from the rock, she crouched down to scan over the names at the very bottom. As she expected, Yamato's name was the last on the last, freshly engraved with a bit of stone dust still on it.

For a while Sakura stared at the name sullenly, and then eventually rose back up to her feet. With a final sigh, Sakura turned around and started heading back to the village to continue her search for Kakashi.

When she reached the village, she sort of walked along the street with no particular direction in mind. She was hoping maybe she would find someone she knew who would perhaps have an idea where Kakashi might be.

It took her a while to find anyone, but eventually she managed to run into Naruto. When she first spotted him, she felt her heart clench in pain, knowing beforehand the assignment he was destined to receive this afternoon. It was even more painful for her knowing this before he even did. But as she approached him, she acted normally and pretended that she knew nothing.

"Hey, Naruto." She greeted.

"Sakuraaaaaa~! Heeey!" He exclaimed enthusiastically, rushing forward to give her a nice big hug. "Wanna come join me for some ramen?! You still owe me, remember!"

Sakura smiled apologetically. "I would have loved to come, but I can't. I'm actually looking for Kakashi-sensei, I need to speak with him. Have you seen him around?" she asked, really hoping he had seen him.

But Naruto gave her a look that showed her he really didn't know. "Hmm... sorry, Sakura. I haven't seen him since I visited the hospital... I didn't think he was even allowed to leave!"

Sakura scowled deeply at that comment. "He _wasn't..._" She murmured, glancing sideways.

Before Naruto even had the chance to respond, a sudden "Hey." was heard from behind. Sakura quickly spun around, only to come face-to-face with Shikamaru. "Oh... Hi, Shikamaru." She greeted, a little disappointed that it wasn't Kakashi. Then again, why would it have been him? That would have been way to easy.

"Sorry... I just couldn't help but overhear. You're looking for Kakashi, right?" He said casually, as if it were no big deal.

For Sakura, though, it was a HUGE deal. Her insides suddenly jumped at the mentioning of her ex-sensei, and she felt her heart race faster as she comprehended the possibility of the shadow-user knowing his whereabouts. "Yes!" She exclaimed, "Do you know where he is?!"

"Luckily for you, I just saw him entering the ANBU headquarters as I was exiting. Don't know if it was just me, but... he seemed a little off for some reason." He explained, shrugging at his last comment.

Sakura couldn't hold herself back-- she flung herself forward and wrapped her arms around the boy. "Thank you, thank you, Shikamaru! You're amazing!" She exclaimed. Quickly letting go, she turned back toward Naruto and gave him a small wave. "Sorry, Naruto, I've gotta go. I'll definitely catch up with you later and we can go for ramen then! See ya!" She said, and before even listening to his goodbye, she took off on a sprint toward the ANBU headquarter building.

Arriving shortly, Sakura wasted no time in entering. She busted right through the doors, and after glancing quickly around the main room for Kakashi and not spotting him, she jogged over the reception desk and questioned the ninja sitting behind it. "Hi there, I'm looking for Hatake Kakashi. Is he here?" She blurted out, not caring if she sounded rude.

"Um..." The ninja behind the desk took a moment to react to the sudden rush, and after recalling all the recent visitors, he shook his head. "You just missed him. If you hurry, you can probably still catch up to him." He said.

Sakura groaned in frustration and ran straight back out of the doors she had just barged into. Since the street she came along branched off in only two different directions, she thankfully didn't have to make a choice on which to choose, as she'd already been through one. So, heading off on the other street, she ran as quickly as she could, looking frantically around for her ex-sensei along the way.

As she finally reached a 3-way fork in the road, she slowed down to a stop and was nearly about to give up, when she glanced down one of the streets, and after straining her eyes, was able to see the back of someone with silver spiky hair. Her heart then leaped as she took off without a second thought down the street, running even faster as she quickly approached the individual.

When she reached a close enough distance where she was able to tell that is was most definitely Kakashi, a huge wave of relief swept over her. But that was soon masked with anger and hurt as she got even closer.

"Kakashi-sensei!" She yelled out, loud enough for him to hear.

She then noticed the man come to a halt, but remained facing away from her. This annoyed Sakura even more, and in a few giant leaps, she was right by his side. Running around in front of him, Sakura faced him head-on and pointed an accusing finger up in his face. Only... when she actually looked up at his face, she realized she had been tricked... again. Instead of her looking up at her ex-sensei's face, she was looking up at her ex-sensei's face in the form of a scarecrow. He'd tricked her like this in the past before... and all of a sudden the anger she was feeling from before increased ten-fold and began bubbling. Fisting her hands and clenching them so tightly they almost bled, Sakura winded her leg back and then swung it full-throttle at the gut of the scarecrow Kakashi, sending it flying several feet away until all the straw had fallen out and scattered across the range.

Huffing and puffing while allowing her rage to slowly dwindle down, Sakura remained in that same spot, not knowing where else to possibly go. She could probably search the entire city for him, and still no find him. As long as he's capable of moving, it could very well be impossible.

With an aggravated groan, Sakura clutched her hair and tugged at it lightly as she tried to figure out what to do. She wanted to cry again.

"Sakura."

Sakura jumped, nearly letting out a yelp, as she turned around to face the bastard who surprised her. Once again, she got her hopes up that it had been Kakashi, and once again, she was let down. Only... it wasn't anyone too bad, either. It was Asuma again. "Oh, Hi Asuma-sensei..." Sakura greeted, letting out a sigh as she calmed herself down.

"You're looking for Kakashi, aren't you?" He asked.

"_Talk about deja vu!" _Sakura thought, beginning to wonder if he secretly had her on some sort of treasure hunt with people to give her small clues along the way. "Yes... I am... I'm not getting much luck, though." She replied, sighing again.

"Hmm... yeah, you probably won't find him. I would give up after tonight, though. He won't be here." Asuma spoke sadly, looking down away from Sakura as he did so.

Sakura hesitated for a moment after Asuma said that. _"What does he mean he won't be here...? Is he going somewhere? Does Asuma know something...?" _Sakura was now questioning many things in her head, but only asked Asuma one thing. "Where will he be?"

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this. But, this, I think you should know." Asuma then paused for a moment, still staring down at the ground. "He's signed up to return to the battlefield."

* * *

**A/N: All the edits are done! Yay! However... I kind of set out to edit this whole thing without even writing the next chapter yet... xD; So, sorry if you're a follower and expecting it. But I haven't even planned the exact content of the next chapter. I have a general idea of the things that must take place within the next 2 chapters, but it's all the in-between stuff that always gets me. Although, hopefully all this editing will inspire me to start writing it soon. I won't be too busy outside of the fandom-world for a little while, so I have no excuses.**


	6. Determination

_**Reflection**_

_**

* * *

**[Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, nor any of the characters… Kishimoto is the God.]_

_**Chapter 6: Determination**_

As soon as the news was broken to her, she felt broken herself. Like a child had finally realized the doll they were playing with was made of porcelain, so they smashed her onto the ground into millions of pieces. Just for fun. And then left the mess there without bothering to clean it up. After all, it was just a child.

Asuma had to help Sakura up after she had taken a fall to her knees. She didn't faint like last time, but she might as well have. At least that way she wouldn't have to endure the backstabbing pain she felt being thrusted into her. All of a sudden the talking and bonding she had done with Kakashi in the hospital proved to be one big lie. It had meant nothing. He was only saying those things to make her feel better and ease up so that she'd feel a little safer about leaving him alone. Well, it worked. And she felt stupid for being so gullible and being defeated so easy.

"Sakura... are you alright?" Asuma suddenly asked, snapping Sakura back to reality. She had completely forgotten it existed.

"Uh... yeah... yeah, I'm fine." Sakura muttered as she shook her head, her eyelashes fluttering and eyebrows creasing out of stress. She lifted a palm-turned hand to her forehead and closed her eyes in attempt to cool herself down. She was still pissed at Kakashi, possibly even more so after hearing the news. She had to think of what to do, but she could barely even think at that moment with all the emotions clouding both her thoughts and judgement. What she would really like would be to find Kakashi and yell at him for how much of an idiot he was, without him running away for once. But she didn't even know where to continue looking. She had been almost to the point of giving up before he had tricked her, so she didn't know how much longer she would last. Then she remembered there was a man standing in front of her, probably looking down at her as if she needed to be knocked out and put in a locked room. Removing her hand from her head and opening her eyes back up, she finally looked back up to address him directly.

"Asuma... where can I find Kakashi? And don't defend him this time... this is important. I need to know." She pleaded, staring up into Asuma's irresolute dark gaze, while her eyes exhibited quite the opposite.

Asuma was a little hesitant at first, eyes shifting around at the ground in uncertainly as he scratched the side of his jaw with his finger. "Well... as long as you promise not to deform the guy, I'll give you my suggestion." He had to make a compromise, otherwise he'd never be able to live with himself were anything to happen. Not like he actually thought it would, but he had to take precautions.

Sakura shook her head very lightly. "Asuma... he's my sensei. No matter how much I may hate him at times, I would never do anything to inflict harm upon him. I merely wish to talk with him."

Asuma could tell that Sakura meant it. So, with a sigh, and eyes still glued to the ground, he quietly muttered, "He's probably at his apartment. He tends to go home after he receives his missions. And I was just at the HQ receiving my mission, which is how I managed to spot him and overhear him talk with one of the employment officers. I thought what he was doing was stupid, myself, so I tried to follow him once he left so that I could try and speak with him. At that point I saw you running after him and then he used his replacement jutsu, and that's how we got to where we are now." He paused for a brief moment to finally meet her gaze once again. "In a way, I'm kind of glad I ran into you. I think you could do a much better job at speaking with him."

Sakura frowned. "I'm getting the feeling that _nobody _has a better chance at talking to him." She said, taking her turn to stare at the ground. It was then that she realized she didn't even know where Kakashi lived. All this time that she'd known him... she had never been invited or taken to his house. Then again, it wasn't too odd... how often do senseis invite their students over to their house? It sounded a little suggestive.

Looking back up at Asuma, Sakura gave him one last pleading look. "Could you possibly give me directions to his place? I've never actually... been there..." She admitted, feeling a little sheepish. She really hoped that Asuma didn't already expect her to know where he lived, and then refuse to tell her due to an invasion of privacy. But from his expression, it appeared as if he was willing to give up whatever information he knew to avoid being the one to have to confront Kakashi. And Sakura's intuition just happened to be right that time. Asuma nodded and gave her the directions. Sakura knew exactly where to go afterwards, and was actually surprised when it was only about 5 blocks away from her own apartment. Very gratefully, Sakura thanked the black-lunged sensei before taking off in the given directions as quickly as she possibly could.

* * *

When Sakura arrived at the large high-sky building Kakashi was destined to be in, she wasted absolutely no time in busting through. She immediately made her way over to the elevator and pushed the upward arrow button at light-speed about 10 times before waiting and tapping her foot impatiently. When the elevator finally landed, she quickly got in and rode the elevator up to the level that Asuma said Kakashi's apartment was on; level 6.

Before the double metal sliding doors could even fully open up, Sakura squeezed her way through and began marching down along the left branched hallway, eyes scanning across all the numbers on the doors in desperate search for Kakashi's.

Once she finally came across the right door, room number 696, Sakura came to an abrupt halt right in front of it, taking in one deep breath as she faced the door directly. Just as she had curled her hand into a fist and lifted it up, about to knock, a very serious thought suddenly struck her mind. If she alerted him that she was there... he would probably find a way to sneak out around the back or something like that. And then she would definitely lose her chance. So, releasing her arm, she let it fall back down along her side. Wearily, she backed up and glanced shiftily around the hallway, in search of what she could possibly do that wouldn't give him warning of her presence. Then she thought of the possibility of him having a balcony. She did recall when she first arrived at the building that it did indeed have balconies. So, just as hastily as before, Sakura made her way back down to the lobby and then outside. As she stood outside toward the building, her head looked upward at all the balconies as she tried to map out which one would be Kakashi's. Once she located the presumably correct one, she began jumping upward along the lower balconies, eyes never leaving the targeted one. Civilians on the street stopped and stared strangely at her while she did this, but she didn't care. She was a ninja, she didn't need an explanation. So, paying them no mind, she continued on her way up without any hesitation.

It took Sakura a total of thirty seconds to reach Kakashi's level. Wrapping her hand firmly around the metal railing, she swung herself over it and silently landed on the concrete surface. Standing up from her crouched position, she glanced up through the sliding glass screen door, where Kakashi's entire apartment room was exposed. Sakura nearly choked on her own breath, though, when his room wasn't the only thing exposed to her. Indeed, there was the very man in question, hands and toes against the ground while his topless body jounced, beads of sweat covering all the exposed flesh. How Sakura managed to notice that last detail only came with staring at him for way longer than necessary. It wasn't until the man came to a sudden halt half-way through one push-up that Sakura even realized she had been standing there staring at him for over a minute. Before she even had the chance to react, though, his head shot up sideways in her direction, catching the both of them completely off guard. Sakura quickly shook her head and put her pissed off face back on as she took a step toward the glass and crossed her arms. Kakashi appeared to sigh as he slowly let his head fall back forward to face the ground. From reading his lips, it looked as though Kakashi whispered the word '_fuck_' to himself, and then he let his body finally relax from the exact same position he stopped in. From his knees, he rose to his feet. While he did that, as inappropriate as it was at that time, Sakura couldn't resist the very odd tingling sensation that she felt. She'd seen him topless few times before, but now she finally got the full package and got to see his face along with it. And she had to say, it certainly was no disappointment. She didn't get to see his face up close, but from she could see it certainly made her body react in a way she really wished she could control. Kakashi didn't allow her the privilege of staring at his exposed self for much longer, however, as he instantly turned his back to her as he stood up, and quickly donned the top and face mask that were carelessly resting on top of his unmade bed.

Finally, Kakashi turned back around when he was all covered up again, and wiped the sweat from his face with the back of his hand as he headed toward the glass door. Sliding it open, he squinted his eyes slightly at her, pausing for a moment before asking, "How did you find out where I live?"

Typical that he would ask a question like that first over any other. But Sakura just squinted her eyes back up at him and responded with, "Who cares? I think you're the one with some explaining to do, not me." She accused, especially not wishing to get Asuma in any trouble by giving him away.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. "My, that's certainly a way to talk to your elder... teacher, none the less."

But Sakura knew he was only faking taking offence. By that point, Kakashi had lost his respect from the young adult so her behaviour was completely justified. "Kakashi... why did you lie to me?" she asked as she allowed herself into his apartment by squeezing past him then turning back around to face him. He obviously didn't have the decency to invite her in, himself, so she decided to take the liberty.

Kakashi's eyes followed her as she made her way in and around him, giving her the most perplexed stare. He clearly wasn't used to his students barging into his personal space. "Uh... Sakura... I'm a little busy right now... would you mind coming ba--"

"--Oh, cut the bullshit!" Sakura exclaimed, placing her hands on her hips "You lied to me, Kakashi! Do you know what it feels like to have the person you look up to most, lie to you? It fucking sucks!" She took a step closer to him so that their faces were only about a foot and a half apart. She gave him the most scrunched up angry look and pointed an accusing finger up at him. "You made me feel like you actually cared, and were actually sincere about your apology for hurting me! Then you do... _this... _and it just hurts me even more than if you didn't even try to lie at a--"

Kakashi interrupted her by grabbing her wrist that contained the hand pointing the accused finger at him, and held her in place as he took a small step back. "Sakura, listen... I meant what I said about not wanting to hurt you. I just didn't know what else to say to get you to relax. I had already made my decision before that moment that I wanted to go back to the camps. But I couldn't tell you that... because I knew you would freak out and then never leave me alone." He admitted honestly.

"That's just it, though!" Sakura yanked her hand back from his grip. "Why do you want to go back? Under your condition, there is no way you can survive... and I can't just sit here and let you go. Honestly, what would _you _do in my situation?!" Her tone remained strong, but she could feel a slight sting in her eyes.

Kakashi sighed as he broke his gaze with her. "Remember how I told you that perhaps my way of getting away from everyone and everything is going out and fighting? Well, that's exactly the way it is. I _need _to go. That is my life... if I'm not doing that, then hypothetically I'm non-existent." He ran a large hand through his silver locks, wearily re-greeting her stare. Only, it had changed. It was no longer scrunched up in fury... but rather, it appeared to be deep concern.

"You're existent to me..." She then whispered, voice a little raspy as she felt the stinging in her eyes grow. She didn't want to appear weak in front of her ex-sensei, though, so she controlled herself to much of her extent.

There was then an awkward pause where Kakashi just stared speechlessly at her, and she just stared at his chest. She suddenly had an idea that she sort of mentioned to Tsunade before, but considering the situations have changed, maybe there was room for negotiable adjustments that would satisfy everyone. "Kakashi..." She began, eyes still glued solemnly to the man's chest.

"Yes, Sakura?" He asked when she took too long to continue.

"If you go... then I'm going with you." She stated, eyes flickering back up to his as she said the latter part.

Kakashi's eyes widened and he stumbled back another step. "No... no, Sakura, you can't. You said it yourself... it's too dangerous out there. They need you here." He said firmly.

At his reaction, Sakura's face creased in slight annoyance again. Why was everyone against her suggestion? Did they think she'd be too weak to actually be able to survive out there? "Kakashi, I don't want to hear that from you. You are way more susceptible to harm than I am at this moment. So if _you're _going to be stubborn and refuse to stay put, then _I'm _going to be stubborn and follow you wherever you go to make sure you don't die from your own mistake!" She declared back, topping his firmness.

It was Kakashi's turn to crease his eyebrows, and Sakura really wished she knew what he was thinking because his reasoning abilities at that point were awful. "Sakura. This has nothing to do with you... why do you feel the need to get involved? I appreciate the concern, but what I do with my life is my business." She was beginning to feel the coldness emanating from his body again. She didn't understand why he suddenly became so strict about it, often times in the past he would be more than happy to have her tag along. Why was he so resistant in this scenario?

"Okay, I respect that." She spat. "In that case, what I do with my life is my business, also. Therefore, if I wish to go to the camps, I have every right to do so." She retorted mockingly. But doing as such just annoyed Kakashi even more. She didn't care, though, because she would bet a million dollars that she was even more annoyed.

"I think you should leave now." He tensely advised, bringing an end to their 'discussion' before it got nasty.

But Sakura just glared at him. "I hope you realize that you're the one bringing this on yourself, Kakashi! You have no right to get mad at me." She claimed, attempting to justify her actions. But that clearly didn't work when he grabbed her by the wrist once again and physically introduced her to the exit. Sakura was so outraged that he even dared forcing her out. She struggled to break free along their way to the doorway, but his grip was much stronger. He tried to be as gentle as he could when he let her out, but it was hard since she was being so difficult about it. It wasn't until she was completely out of the room, into the hallway, that he released her.

"Go home, Sakura." Were his final words before shutting and locking the door on her. Sakura was so vexed, she felt like she'd just been smacked right in the face. If she really wanted to, she could bust his door down, no problem; but she was at least mature enough not to be that bad. Even if she did break back in, there was nothing that she could have said that would change anything. It was all up to her now; Kakashi had no impact. If she wanted to go to the camps, she would go to the goddamned camps. Just as there was clearly nothing she could say that would make Kakashi want to stay in the village, there was nothing he could say that could make her not want to follow him. She didn't even know why she was trying so hard... normally she wouldn't. She supposed a huge part of the reason, too, was that she knew Naruto and Sasuke were also retreating to the camps. Kakashi was just one excuse for her to be granted the opportunity to go with them. At least, she hoped it would be enough to actually work. She would have to go have another chat with her blonde sensei.

* * *

When Sakura reached the Town Hall, she rushed up to the Missionary in just a rush as she had been in when tracking down Kakashi.

She was just about to barge into the room, when she noticed the door was already slightly ajar, and she could hear voices behind it. It didn't take her long at all to recognize the voices belonging to Tsunade, Naruto, and Sasuke. It was then that Sakura realized what was going on... Tsunade was informing the two of their mission for the next day. Sakura felt her heart clench as she listened to their discussion. As rude as it was for her to do so, Sakura decided then to barge in anyway.

"Let me go, too!" Sakura blurted, causing all three of them to turn and look at her in shock. It wasn't in Sakura's nature to be so obnoxious, but she had gone through so much the past few days... she had become desperate and needed to find at least one thing to settle with.

"Um... Sakura... What do you think you're doing?" Tsunade questioned the girl, clearly disappointed with her unpleasant interruption.

"Tsunade-sama... I beg of you... you have to let me go to the camps with them. This is for Kakashi's sake!"

Tsunade's eyes widened even more, and she cleared her throat as if she had just choked on something.

"What is she talking about?" Sasuke suddenly asked. "What does this have to do with Kakashi?" Sasuke was no idiot, so he picked up on things very quickly.

Tsunade's face turned red and she banged her flat palm down on the table. "Naruto. Sasuke." Tsunade announced, composing herself to the best of her abilities. "Would you please excuse the young lady and I? I've told you all you really need to know, just make sure you're there at the west gate for 2 o'clock, sharp. Capiche?" Tsunade told them briskly, looking as if she was going to pop at any minute.

Both Sasuke and Naruto exchanged weary glances with each other, Sakura, then back at Tsunade. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaahhh... no problem! We'll be there!" Naruto over-exaggerated to fill in the awkward silence. Patting his raven-haired companion firmly on the back, the two of them left the room, both exchanging one more glance with Sakura on their way out.

Once the two were completely gone and their chakra could no longer be sensed anywhere nearby, Tsunade slammed her hand back down on her desk again. "What the hell is your problem?! Do you want the whole village to know about Kakashi?!" Tsunade yelled, clearly very frustrated with the girl.

"Who cares about that!" Sakura expressed ignorantly. "He's leaving anyway! And I'm going too... to make sure he doesn't die!"

"Oh, really now? And who's going to validate that? Because I most certainly will not. And considering I am Hokage, I have the authority to make sure nobody else does either." Tsunade's eye appeared to be twitching, but Sakura didn't care.

Sakura didn't even understand why Tsunade seemed to be so fine with Kakashi going back in the first place. "I can't believe this... you're letting him go, but not me."

"Sakura, no matter what I say, that man would just run away to the camps on his own. He has nothing tying him down here, so he's got nothing to lose. But you... you have a job here. Would you really want to give that up forever?"

Sakura just stared at her sensei in astonishment. "Are you saying... you would fire me if I left?"

"I am dead serious about this, Sakura. You chose your lifestyle... all the medics in the field know the risks. If you really want to give yourself up, go ahead... but while you are under my supervision, I will not allow it." Tsunade sat like a stone in her seat with her elbows propped up on the desk, and fingers interlaced. Her eyes shut as she awaited Sakura's response, but there was a very long pause before Sakura did manage to speak.

Her voice became soft. "Sensei... listen... this isn't about me, anymore. This is about Kakashi. I need to go to take care of him... please..." Sakura was begging now, all hostility erased.

But that still didn't seem to work with the woman. "Sakura, there are plenty of other great medics out there to assist with Kakashi. Once I inform them of his condition, he will be well-monitored." Tsunade maintained her stone-like composure.

By that point, Sakura was ready to give up. Nothing she was saying was even moving Tsunade in the slightest. If she kept going, she would just wear herself out and then she would be a wreck. Well, the way things were going for her, she would probably still turn out a wreck. Jaw hanging and eyes worn, Sakura just stared in disbelief at the woman for the remaining few seconds she stayed there. She couldn't even bring herself to say anything else... after all, what _could _she say? Instead, Sakura just turned around and marched straight out without saying another word. It was disrespectful to the third degree, but Sakura gave up caring about things like respect at that point.

Sakura slammed the door on her way out, forming a few small cracks in the wall surrounding the doorway. She completely ignored this, and just shuffled her way down to the exit of the building. She looked like a zombie.

When she left the building, she had to stop and think for a few seconds before she realized her name was being called. Slowly, she looked up in the voice's direction, and saw none other than Naruto making his way toward her. When she saw him, she wanted to smile, but couldn't even bring herself to do that.

"Did you wait for me?" Sakura suddenly asked, finding it strange how Naruto was still around after he was dismissed.

"Yeah... don't take this into offence or anything, but you look _terrible." _Of course, the boy was always painstakingly honest.

"Thanks..." Sakura drawled sarcastically, glancing back down at the ground.

"That's why..." He sing-songed, crouching down and looking up into her face to disrupt her view of the ground "I'm taking you out for ramen! I figured you're in need of some cheering up!" He said excitedly, grabbing her hand. "And I'll even let you off the hook this time! It's on me!" He grinned brightly.

Sakura didn't know why, but when she looked at him, she felt this slight sense of security and happiness. Although when she felt it, she also felt sadness that this boy was going to be leaving her the very next day for who knew how long. And that was what depressed her to the point of wanting to break down and cry again. But she knew she was stronger than that. As much as it pained her, she kept her composure and accepted the boy's invitation. The fact that he was going to be leaving didn't mean that she had to chicken out and avoid him. It meant she would have to spend and cherish what little time she had left with him. All of a sudden, thoughts of their sleep-over a couple days ago came to her mind and she was finally capable of cracking a smile - as small as it was.

* * *

Sakura felt much better after her dinner with Naruto. She wasn't quite sure what it was, but he always seemed to emit some kind of special energy that made a person feel better no matter how shitty they felt. She only wished she could do the same for some people...

When it was time for the two to split ways, they gave each other the biggest and longest good-bye. Sakura told him she probably wouldn't get the chance to wish him farewell the next day, so that's why they settled on their farewells that night. Like a gentleman, Naruto walked Sakura back to her apartment, which is where they said their good-byes.

"I'm going to miss you so much, Naruto..." Sakura said as she remained hugging the boy for over three minutes.

"I'll miss you too, Sakura... you should write to me sometime. I'll be sure to write to you." The boy said, returning the lengthy warm embrace.

"I will." Sakura said, very confidently.

It took them a little longer to actually separate. When they did and Naruto finally left, after Sakura shut the door she quickly ran over to open her sliding doors. She hopped out onto her balcony to lean over the edge and watch the blonde-haired boy make his way down the street into the distance. Even when he was long gone, Sakura remained in the same position. She actually even decided to pull her wicker chair over and just sit out and relax for a little while as she just watched the sky fade steadily to a dark grey. It wasn't until then that she actually even noticed that the sky had turned grey. It looked very ominous, and she couldn't shake the feeling that it was probably going to storm again. In no longer than a few minutes, her hunch proved to be correct, as sprinkles of rain began falling lightly in the form of a drizzle. Normally Sakura would head straight inside, but for some reason she wanted to drown herself in the rain that night. For the first time in forever, she appreciated the drops splashing all over her face and slowly giving her clothes a spotty new pattern. The rain calmed her and as she continued to sit there, she couldn't help but ponder over all her day's preceding and how much she failed. Even as she sat there alone, thinking it all over while wanting to cry... she still couldn't let herself go. In the back of her mind, a very small part of her was still determined to fight on and pursue in endeavouring to the camps with her friends... she just didn't have any other options that she could think of. She continued to sit there, the rain steadily getting a little harder, but her mind had gone blank.

She sat there for about 6 minutes until the first flash of lightning struck. The instant that lightning struck was the instant her revelation did as well. For once in her life she felt the universe speak to her, and the greatest idea was finally brought forth. The instant realization kicked in, she sprung from her chair, suddenly bursting with energy. She had finally discovered a solution she could pull off.

She would completely revamp her identity... every single little detail... and then she would sneak into the platoon the next day and leave with them to the camps. While all that was going on... 'Haruno Sakura' was a kidnapped girl.

* * *

**A/N: Firstly, I would like to apologize for taking a little over a year to update. Consider it... a year-long writer's block? *Hides from rocks* Not only that, but before I finally got my inspiration and decided to write again, I re-read through all the previous chapters and really... I was very ashamed of how terrible it was. So I decided to go through and edit all the chapters a little bit before I updated. The main chapters I fixed were 1 & 2, because they were the worst... but then I got a bit lazy with the rest of the chapters so only edited the important parts. Because of this... if there are still any followers reading this story... the only thing I ask is that you go through and read the chapters again, because I made some very important adjustments that are crucial to the entire storyline. (I posted this message on all the other chapters too, but I'm just posting here also because you're more likely to see it on this one first). **

**Secondly, I've finally reached the chapter I've been most excited about since the very beginning when I was simply just brainstorming the entire fic itself. It's one of the most climatic moments in the story. Also, if you're a hardcore Disney fan like me... you should be recognizing right about now where I got my inspiration for this story (*cough* note the title *cough* note Sakura's revelation *cough* note the setting at the end *cough*) Yeah... so, anyway, I have a feeling that I'll probably have the next chapter out sooner than I've updated ever before, because I am actually really excited to write it.**

**On another note... you're probably thinking 'Ew, why does it seem like she's building up NaruSaku more than KakaSaku?' ... FYI... I hate NaruSaku with a passion. Their relationship in this is STRICTLY platonic... but just because the fic is about KakaSaku doesn't mean that they are the only two characters in this. I still try to stick to the realistic characterizations, and in my opinion even though I hate the NaruSaku romantic relationship, I love their friendship relationship. So I'm just building on that, is all... I'm not the type of person to just dump all the other characters in the ditch. I like to include a lot of characters to make everything more realistic. And, trust me, this is still the beginning... plenty more KakaSaku goodness to make its appearance.**


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